Operation: AVATAR
by Hwahwa
Summary: All seems normal- well, as normal as it can be for these people, anyway- in the lives of Team Avatar and Sector V. However, when each group of kids finds a mysterious glowing rock in their own world, something happens that surely changes their points of view.
1. A Shift in Reality

Operation: A.V.A.T.A.R.

A

Very

Amazing

Trip

About

Role-reversal

* * *

It was quite beautiful; the Sun shone brightly enough to make even the grouchiest of firebenders indulge a little, flowers sprung up happily to drink the sweet rays, a slight breeze that spring had forgotten to pack up and put away kept things cool, and all the robinjays were singing their melodious tunes. Team Avatar was having some tea together in the Fire Palace Garden, taking advantage of the beautiful day. As Katara poured out some more of the steaming liquid into her cup, the ground suddenly shook, causing her to miss the cup entirely and pour it onto the table. Looks shot in Toph's direction.

"What? It was getting a little _too_ serene for me."

"Well that doesn't mean you need to make the ground move," said Katara as she waterbended the spilled tea back into her cup.

Aang laughed, and then looked around. "Hey, where'd Sokka go?"

"Probably needed to use the bathroom again," muttered Zuko as he took another sip. "Probably missing his girlfriend, too. Needs some alone time."

Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors had been called to some northeastern Earth Kingdom city for an award. The others had wanted to come, but she told them it was no big deal and they needed to rest after just barely rebuilding the connections between the nations.

"Geez, she's only gonna be gone for like a week," said Toph, who now rested her feet up on the table where everyone could see them.

"Still, you need to be considerate of other people's emotions," said Katara.

Then came Sokka out of the trees behind them, taking three of them by surprise, as Toph, of course, had felt his presence approaching a minute ago.

"Hey guys," he said with excitement.

"Yes?" asked Aang.

"Guess what I found!"

"What?" asked Zuko.

"Come on, just look at it!" So the rest of them followed him down a stream and to a bush. He had a huge smile on his face, and was practically bouncing with joy.

"Wow, it's a bush, whoopee!" sarcastically said Katara, although she wasn't that good at sarcasm, so it came out wrong.

"No, there's something under it. And it's earth. Strange earth…" said Toph.

"Way to ruin the surprise, Toph!" Sokka pushed the bush out of the way to reveal a dark rock with glowing blue minerals inside of it. "I found it here when I stubbed my toe on it on the way back from the restroom!"

"Told you," said Zuko.

Toph bent down and placed her hand on it. "What is this?" she asked.

"I have no idea," said Sokka, "but it looks cool, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, the coolest," said the earthbender sarcastically. "There seems to be some sort of energy coming from it."

Aang got down next to it, too. "Let me see," he said as he, too, placed his hand on it. His eyes grew wide, "Wow, this contains a massive amount of power…"

Sokka lifted it off the ground. "Don't pick it up!" scolded his sister.

"Relax, sis, it's okay." He replied calmly.

"Is it?" she asked. She walked over to it and took some water from the stream, coating her hands with it. The water began to glow, and she tried her x-ray thing on the rock.

"I thought that only worked on humans," said Zuko.

"It does," Katara said, "I just thought I'd give it a try." She took her hands off it.

"Let me see it," said Zuko. He took it and examined it closely. "It looks like it broke off of something," he observed.

"Are there any other pieces around?" questioned Aang.

"Haven't seen any," replied Sokka. "But we can look."

"Don't bother," said Toph. "There are none. I'd be able to tell if something else like this was around here."

"Oh, right, the short one has super-sense abilities, sorry I forgot," remarked Sokka snappily.

"Let's just leave it," said Aang. "It's most likely some spirit thing we shouldn't be messing with."

"We can't just leave it!" exclaimed Sokka.

"Listen to Aang, Sokka. We shouldn't be tampering with spirit stuff. If anyone knows that, it's him." Katara pointed out.

"But-"

"_Sokka. Leave it."_

"Fine," he said before treading back over to the tea table.

Zuko replaced the rock back where they had found it, and the rest of them returned to their chairs.

* * *

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, I'm ready."

"Cautiously now, careful…"

"I- I got it."

"Good, now let's take it back to the Treehouse for analyzing."

Sector V of the Kids Next Door had just come across the strangest thing: a glowing blue mineral rock. They took it to the Treehouse, where Numbuh Two placed it in the Kids Next Door S.C.A.N.E.R.O. (System Can Access Nearly Every Recorded Object.) They all looked at the screen in await of what the reading would be. After what seemed like 30 minutes of loading, the results finally appeared.

"Unknown Substance!" cried out Numbuh One.

"Chill, Numbuh One, we'll find out what this means," said Numbuh Two.

"Seriously, what's so important about some big dumb rock?" asked Numbuh Four as he carelessly picked it up and swung it around.

"Hey, give that to Numbuh Five!" shouted Numbuh Five, taking it from Numbuh Four's hands and carefully placing it back on top of the S.C.A.N.E.R.O.

Numbuh Three approached it with wide eyes and felt it. "It's so pretty!"

"It may be pretty, but it could still be dangerous," said Numbuh One as he picked it up once more and placed it in a box. "I'm sending this to Moonbase. Maybe they'll find out what to make of it."

"Yeah, and after all this it could still be some sort of adult trap," Numbuh Two pointed out.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and find out," said Numbuh Five.

* * *

Ten children sleeping,

Two worlds colliding,

The magic comes creeping,

It's come out of hiding.

A switch in the night,

A shock for our friends,

Nothing seems right,

This mean the world ends...?

* * *

Out of bed rolled an extremely sleepy Wallabee Beatles. Dragging his feet across an expensive carpet, he hadn't yet noticed the fact that he was now about eleven inches taller. Or that he wasn't in his own pajamas. He walked out the door and, somehow, managed to make his way into the restroom. He started the sink and looked at the mirror. He brushed his blonde bangs away from his eyes, and saw a massive red scar covering the left half of his face, which seemed even odder in comparison to his bright green eyes. This startled him, of course, who wouldn't be startled by suddenly having a gigantic scar that wasn't there yesterday. He rubbed his eyes and took a closer look to see if it was really there. It was. Jaw dropped, he began rubbing it over with his fingers to see what it felt like. It didn't hurt, but the skin was rough and dry. Freaking out and blubbering unintelligibly, he ran out the door. He looked around and for the first time took notice of his surroundings. He wasn't in the Treehouse at all, but some huge mansion with ornate carvings all over and paintings of old dudes hanging on the walls. A door opening down the hall caught his attention, and when a bald figure emerged, he ran towards it. "Numbuh One! Numbuh One!"

"Numbuh Four? Is that you?" Numbuh One turned around, obviously just as relieved to see someone familiar.

"Where are we?" Numbuh Four asked.

"I don't know. I suppose we've been kidnapped in our sleep."

"Um...Numbuh One...why is there an arrow on your head?"

Numbuh One rolled his eyes up in an attempt to see for himself, but of course, he couldn't see it himself. "I don't know! Why are you tall all of a sudden? And what happened to your eye?"

"I don't know! I was hoping you'd be able to tell me!"

Numbuh One looked around. "Where are the others?"

As if in immediate answer to that question, Numbuh Three skipped in just at that moment. "Hey guys!" she said cheerfully.

"Numbuh Three!" Numbuh One was even more relieved at the sight of another familiar face. Obviously, the rather airheaded operative had not yet noticed the situation. "Haven't you noticed anything strange about this place?" he asked.

"No..." she replied. "I don't think so."

"Open your eyes, Numbuh Three," said Numbuh Four. "Isn't there something strange about Numbuh One's head?"

She opened her eyes. "Hmm...Ooh! Ooh! He got a new haircut?"

Both boys enacted in a facepalm. "...Numbuh One doesn't even _have any hair."_

"Oh. But what about that blue mohawk thing?"

"That's it!" exclaimed the boy in question. "I think it's a tattoo."

"Whooaaa...hold on there, when did you get a tattoo?" questioned Three.

"I was just wondering that myself," replied One. He looked around for a moment, "Let's find Numbuhs Two and Five, they've got to be worried sick...or maybe worse."

So the three ten-year-olds...or, whatever age they were supposed to be now, headed cautiously off down the hallway.

It wasn't long before they found their way to a kitchen, and in it, of course, an obviously distressed Hoagie Gilligan stuffing his face with all the pastry he could find. He, like Numbuh Four, had grown a bit and was now a foot taller than before. He wore a shade of light blue, and his signature hat and goggles were nowhere to be seen.

"Numbuh Two!" called the other kids.

"Guys? Guys! Thank goodness!" he called. He walked over to them, a partially-eaten...cake..type...thing in his hand. "Boy, am I glad to see you! I just woke up in this weird place and walked around and...I found the food. You guys know how hungry I am in the mornings. Anyway, so Numbuh Five came out and-"

"Wait, you said you saw Numbuh Five?" asked Numbuh One.

"Yeah, her room was right next to mine. We split up to look for you guys, she should be somewhere around here."

They looked down the hallway both ways, and did the same in an identical one across the kitchen. That's when they heard footsteps. Carefully, they peered around the corner. The sound of humming began to grow louder until the source was visible. A large, grey-bearded man came strolling through. He entered the kitchen, and the four friends ducked behind a table to hide. He came in and took out two bowls of leaves, and a pitcher of water. He poured the water into a pot, not stopping the humming for a second. And then he breathed fire into the pot to boil the water. _Then he breathed fire to boil the water!_ All the children's jaws dropped, and eyes were opened so wide you could use them as bowling balls.

"...Definitely something to do with Father," whispered Numbuh Four through gritted teeth. "Who else do we know with _fire powers?_" He tried hard to keep his anger as silent as possible. Numbuh Three elbowed him with a "_Shhh!"_

The man continued to stir the leaves into his pot until he found the concoction just right. He then poured it into a tea cup, and merrily went on his way out of the room.

"What. Was. That?" Numbuh Two couldn't believe his eyes, especially now that no goggles protected them.

Numbuh One just shook his head in disbelief. "It's important that we find Numbuh Five now more than ever," he said.

"Why so...?" came a familiar voice from right behind them. They all turned around to see the tall girl, standing with arms crossed, and lacking a red hat atop her braided hair.

"Numbuh Five!" excited shouts from everyone. They all crowded her and tried to explain what they had just seen.

"So, what you're sayin' is...we're in a whole lotta trouble," she concluded.

"Yeah, and there's no 2x4 technology _anywhere," _pointed out Numbuh Two.

"I guess we'll have to make do with what we got," she said, looking so strange in clothes that seemed to match Numbuh Two's, yet face as determined as always.

And yes, they _would_ need to make do with what they've got. But what they don't yet realize is they've got more than they could ever hope for resting in their very own hands.

* * *

Back in Sector V, almost the same situation was taking place. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Toph had woken up in a large, elaborate, labyrinthine treehouse.

"Look guys, I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for all of this," explained Aang to his troubled friends.

"Oh, yeah, one minute I'm dreaming about gigantic seal jerky and then BOOM! _We're inside a tree!"_ remarked Sokka. "Do you have an explanation for _that,_ Aang?"

"Well, you were probably hungry so that explains the seal jerky-"

"FORGET ABOUT THE SEAL JERKY! WHERE ARE WE?!"

"Calm down, Sokka!" scolded Katara. "What if other people are here?"

"Good then! Maybe they can tell us just what in the world is going on!"

"She means, what if there are _enemies _here, Sokka," snapped Zuko angrily.

"Well, that'll be easy, just give me some rocks-oh, wait, there are no rocks in trees," complained Toph sarcastically, who was annoyed at the fact that she couldn't see a thing in this place.

"But they are made of wood, and wood can_ burn,"_ suggested Sokka, looking in Zuko's direction.

"Yeah, one problem with that, we're still in it," said Katara.

"Look, I'll try flying up to the top to see if I can see anything, okay?" said Aang, hoping to find a solution as soon as possible. Everyone was angry today, because they woke up here, because all of them were suddenly smaller, because they didn't have their own clothes on, because Zuko's scar had disappeared, because Aang's arrow tattoo had done the same. Nothing was right. And things were about to get worse. The airbender tried to lurch up, to make the wind carry him up as it would a leaf. But nothing happened. He tried once more; again, nothing. He, embarrassed, turned towards the four behind him. "...I can't airbend."

"What?" they all asked at once. Immediately Zuko shot his fist in the air. Nothing. "I can't firebend either!" he shouted.

Toph started to freak out. "No, no, this can't be happening. I can't see without my earthbending."

Katara looked around at the room full of confused, frightened, panicked faces. "Aang..." she started, staring hopelessly at him for some sort of answer.

"...I don't know. Really, I don't. If I did, I'd be explaining it to you all as best as I could. But I can't."

Suddenly, a loud beeping and red flashing begun in the room as some sort of alarm went off.


	2. All in the Family

"INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT."

"What's going on?" asked Toph frantically.

"Well, apparently there's an intruder alert," said Sokka.

"Heyyyyy, Kids Next Door!" came a nasally, high-pitched voice from behind shortly followed by an evil, snort-filled laugh.

They all turned around, and before them was the figure of a man suspended by toilet paper, and dressed in a toilet-themed costume. They all (except Toph) looked at him with faces of utter confusion saying flat-out "_**What**__._"

"Bet you didn't see me coming, hahaahaaha!" the man said. "What, cat got your tongue? Normally this is the part where you guys taunt me!"

Still staring blankly and blinking in sheer astonishment, Aang was the first to speak. "Um..." was simply all he said.

The man swooped down to the ground, and looked at them questioningly. "Hey, uh, you guys all right? Why aren't you trying to kick my butt? Hello? I'm in your Treehouse!" He waved his hand in front of Aang's face. "Hello? Numbuh One? Hellloooo?"

Finally catching on to what was supposed to be happening, and just barely getting over the absurdity of the moment, Zuko shook his head and ran over to where the man was standing. He may not have his firebending anymore, but he delivered a swift and hard-packed punch straight to the intruder's face. Goggling backwards for a moment, the man straightened up, "This is more like it! BEWARE THE POWER OF...THE TOILETNATOR!" The kids all came out of their haze and were ready to fight, even if they weren't quite sure of the situation. The Toiletnator proceeded to send a whip of toilet paper straight in Toph's direction, and Sokka quickly broke it with a karate chop before it could reach the blind girl.

Katara spotted some weapons hanging on the wall, and ran over to them. She wasn't familiar with this style of weapon; there was no need for guns in a world where people could shoot blasts straight from their fingertips. Nevertheless, she picked up all of them and threw them to her teammates. "Guys, catch!"

They did, and, not knowing how to use them, began hitting the Toiletnator with them. While doing so, Toph's finger slipped and accidentally pulled the trigger. Out of the barrel shot an egg at tremendous speed that hit the Toiletnator in a spot that hurts. A lot. Cringing and crying he crumpled to the floor. "Owwwwwww..."

"Yikes," "Ooooh," "Ouch," the boys of the team felt somewhat sympathetic, but not sympathetic enough to restrain from getting him the heck out of there.

"I-I-I'll just be on m-m-my way..." said the Toiletnator weakly as he crawled his way out of the Treehouse.

Toph smiled. "Wow, what _is_ this thing?" she asked, handling the shiny weapon and feeling it.

Sokka took it from her hands and examined it. It had light green tiger stripes on it, a large back compartment for storing ammunition, and a funnel-shaped barrel. He disengaged the back compartment from the rest of the gun, looked down it for a second, and took one of the eggs out. He closely inspected the egg while twirling it around in his hands. He finally made his conclusion. "It shoots eggs."

"Why would someone need a weapon that shoots eggs?" asked Katara.

"I don't know, but they'd have to have _eggcellent _aim!" replied Sokka, who continued to laugh out loud in response to his own pun.

Zuko just rolled his eyes. He then remembered something, "Hey, Aang, what was it that Toilet-Freak called you? You know, when he was trying to get us to fight him?"

"I don't remember, wasn't it like...Nergal Run or something?" Aang replied.

"No, it was something else. It was right before I punched him."

"'Number One', that's what I heard," offered Toph. "My hearing's pretty good, you know. 'Missing one sense sharpens the others.' Don't miss much when it comes to that."

"Why did he call you Number One?" asked Katara.

Aang went back into that bathroom which in which he had first discovered his missing arrow, and looked himself up and down. "Guys, I don't think that here, wherever we are, I'm Aang."

"What do you mean, Twinkletoes?" asked Toph.

"I mean, I think I'm someone else. I mean, I'm still me, but I'm not me at the same time." He walked back out and looked into the confused faces. "This making any sense to you?"

"Not a bit," said Sokka. "But, hey, if it's what the Avatar says then it's as good as right to me. I just need SOME sort of an explanation."

"So...what do we do?" asked Katara.

"Wait," said Aang. "Do what we're told until we can figure something out. Like, why there's a guy running around calling himself the _Toiletnator_ or why he called me Number One or why a treehouse needs to be this big and fancy or why it's stocked with egg shooters."

At first people argued that there was something they could do to get back home, but they all eventually realized Aang was right and that nothing could be done but wait and observe.

And so that's what they did.

* * *

"All right, all right, look at _this_ one. It's the most recent thing Numbuh Five's found so far," Numbuh Five cleared her throat, and began to read the newspaper. "'_Prince Wallabee was crowned Fire Lord yesterday after overthrowing his father, Ozai, and putting him in jail along with his sister Princess Azula for their crimes against humanity. He was officially crowned by Avatar Nigel in an extravagant ceremony that reestablished the bond between the Fire Nation and the rest of the world, and letting all the land of the Fire Nation colonies return to their rightful nations. The ceremony was attended by many, and the cake was really good._' It's from a few months ago."

"I still can't get over that. Fire Lord Wallabee! I hate being called by my full name!" Numbuh Four complained.

"I'd worry more about the 'Fire Lord' part, Numbuh Four. And what about me? 'Avatar Nigel?' What's an avatar even supposed to be anyway?!" asked Numbuh One. All were completely confused and frustrated at what was going on. They had made their way into the royal library to see if any of the books could shed some light on what was going on. So far, they knew that they had all apparently just stopped some big war, Numbuh Four was the ruler of a nation, Numbuh One was some mighty powerful being called the Avatar, Numbuh Three was a rich girl from some place called the Earth Kingdom, and Numbuhs Two and Five were both from the South Pole.

"I found another one about 'our adventures,'" said Numbuh Two.

"Read it and see if it says anything new," instructed Numbuh One.

"'_Avatar Nigel and Prince Wallabee-'_"

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHH CRUD!"

"Ahem. '_...along with friends Kuki Bei Fong of the Earth Kingdom and brother and sister Hogarth and Abigail of the Southern Water Tribe...'"_ he trailed off. He looked to Numbuh Five worriedly and said, "Abby...in this world...we're brother and sister?"

She looked just as shocked as he did. "Guess so."

"But we don't even look related! AT ALL! What's wrong with these people?"

"Apparently, something bad enough that they let Wally be the king."

"Hey! I could be a good king!" protested Numbuh Four.

"Look, we just need to play the parts until further notice," said Numbuh One. "Can we do that?"

"Yeah, okay" was the initial response.

* * *

Having gotten bored, Team Avatar was exploring all the reaches of the Treehouse. It was pretty cool, actually. They had to at least admit that. At the very top, all five (once again, except Toph) were gazing about the neighborhood, taking in the view.

"It's a _really_ tall treehouse," Aang commented.

"Yeah, but it's not like you're not used to being in the air all the time, Twinkletoes," Toph pointed out.

"True, I'm just surprised that a tree could even grow this tall," he said.

They were suddenly interrupted by a yelling. A female voice that was yelling, "ZUUUUKOOOOO!" from down on the ground. The kids exchanged glances, wondering what was going on. Zuko just shrugged his shoulders and they all went down. However, they did so carefully, just in case another crazy person was waiting to attack them. They eventually reached the source of the voice, a tall, cheery, blonde woman who spoke with some strange tint to her voice. "Ah, there you are, Zuko!" she said. "Listen, I'm stepping out for a bit and I need you to babysit your brother."

"My _brother?" _asked Zuko.

"Don't worry, it will only be for a short time. And I'm sure little Joey will be just perfect for you!" The woman handed him a tiny little baby with only one tooth come in and blonde hair like her own. "Oh, I see you're with your friends. Well, they can help, too, if they want,"

"Joey?" asked Zuko again, looking down at the child in his arms.

"Tootaloo! I'll be seeing you in thirty minutes, my little kangaroo!" She then planted a quick kiss on his forehead, and got into some strange metal machine resembling a horseless carriage.

All but Zuko began to laugh at the embarrassing moment. Well, now they knew who his family was in this place. His face was steaming red, and, had he been in his old life, he would have literally steamed.

"Awww, wook at duh big bwoder Zuko!" Toph mockingly said.

"Mommy wuvs Zuko! Oh, Zuko, will you babysit baby bwoder for Mommy?" Sokka joined in.

Aang and Katara couldn't help but giggle.

Trying to hide his anger, and how much their words actually hurt, considering his what had happened to his real mother, Zuko tried to change the conversation a little. "Please, I'd trade Azula for this little guy any day."

"True," said Sokka. "Your sister is _nuts_."

"Besides, how hard can it be?" asked Aang.

"You know, I wonder if any of the rest of us has siblings here," said Katara.

"We should find out," said Aang. Honestly, he really wanted to have a brother or sister. Being an only child was kind of lonely in his experience- despite always having his airbender friends around. He wanted the kind of relationship that Sokka and Katara had.

"Well, I sure hope I don't," said Toph. "I'm an only child and I _like it_." Obviously she had the opposite view of Aang.

"Well, first we'd need to know who lives where," said Katara. "Shouldn't be that hard, in fact I bet we're all neighbors."

* * *

"Hey guys, does the Moon feel...different...to you, anyhow?" questioned Numbuh Five as she and her four best friends looked upon it. The five of them had been cautious, exploring their new surroundings in this dimension and learning more about themselves. Yet there was one thing, one _really big thing_, they did not yet understand.

"No. Why, does it to you?" asked Numbuh Three.

"I mean, it just looks, like, bigger, and more important. And it feels like...it's tryin' to tell Numbuh Five somethin'." This earned her a few strange looks, but they couldn't help but understand what she was talking about it.

"I sort of feel it," said Numbuh Two, "but it's not all that huge. Real subtle, but I do feel something."

"I think it's trying to say, 'hey! Where'd the main KND base go? Didn't it use to be RIGHT ON TOP OF ME?'" said Numbuh Four. "Anyways, I don't think the Moon is any special...but..." he looked down nervously, "I did feel something kinda weird earlier, like during the daytime. It was like what you're saying, but with the Sun."

"You guys have no idea," said Numbuh One, "both the Moon AND the Sun are affecting me. I'm not sure what it is but it's like some crazy headache that no medicine can stop." He rubbed his temples to illustrate his point.

"Maybe you're just so used to those sunglasses that any large amount of light hurts your eyes," offered Numbuh Two.

"Maybe, but I don't think so..." said Numbuh One.

"Yeah, well, I just want to go home already and play video games and drink soda. What's with all this tea around here, anyway?" asked Numbuh Four as he grumpily crossed his arms and huffed.

"You don't like tea?" asked Numbuh Three.

Numbuh Four's eyes slitted and he slouched even more. "No, I_ don't_."

Numbuh Three gasped. "How can you not like tea? It's so warm and nice and perfect for when you're out in the cold snow and need something to warm you up well hot cocoa works too boy do I love hot cocoa it's so yummy but anyways like I said tea is really good too and-"

"**I DON'T LIKE CRUDDY TEA!**" exploded Numbuh Four. And, as did his tone, he _literally_ exploded. He flung his arms in the air when he shouted this and, to the ultimate surprise of everyone around him, ginormous flames burst from his arms and shot up into the air. Fireworks of red, orange and yellow shot up from the little boy. Everyone just stared blankly. _How did he do that?_

"Well, geez, you didn't have to yell about it!" said Numbuh Three.

"N-N-N-N-Numbuh Four...?" stuttered Numbuh Two, completely in shock of what he had just seen his friend do.

Calming himself down a bit, Numbuh Four turned towards him. "Yeah?"

"You're..._you were on fire,_" the boy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, it's just she was talking really fast and it was really annoying me-"

"No, you were _literally on fire."_

"Wait-what?" Four asked. "What do you mean literally? No, really, what does that word mean again? No- wait, wait, don't tell me..."

"YOU ACTUALLY BURST INTO FLAMES! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, YOU SHOT ACTUAL, _REAL_ FIRE FROM YOUR HANDS!" Numbuh Two couldn't hold it in.

"I _did?" _ He looked at his own hands in disbelief. "Did I...?"

"Yeah," came the voices of his friends, all shaking their heads in affirmation.

"Well...I think we know how you got that scar..." said Numbuh One.

"Guys! Remember that old man we saw? The one who could breathe fire? What if...what if in this universe, the people having crazy-like powers is a normal thing!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Numbuh Three-" Numbuh One stopped in his tracks. "Wait, I think you're onto something. Guys, Numbuh Three is actually onto something!"

"Yeah, and that would explain why Numbuh Four's the 'Fire Lord' he's the ruler of the fire people!" exclaimed Numbuh Two.

"That would also explain all those 'Four Nations' books in the library..." Numbuh Three stated.

"What?!" asked Numbuh Four, "You found a book actually explaining all this and you didn't tell us?!"

"Tons, actually. I just thought they were storybooks! Like the ones mommy used to read to me and Mushi when I was little. There was all sorts of stuff like that in Japan," she explained.

"I wanna shoot fire from my fists!" exclaimed an excited Hoagie. "FIRE ATTACK!" he shouted, punching his fist in the air. Anticlimactically, nothing happened. He tried again. "I said, FIIIIRE ATTACK!" Again, nada.

"Maybe there's a form to it," said Numbuh One. He began to try, so he took a step back, took a deep breath, and lunged forward in a way that he had learned to in KND basic training karate class five years ago. He thought to himself; fire, fire, fire. And, for him, it actually worked. Out of his hand came a wisp of flame. Normally he wasn't one to get overexcited, but this time he did, and, with a "Woohoo!" leapt up twenty feet in the air, and did a floating flip back down.

"What was that?" Numbuh Five asked.

"I don't know," said Numbuh One. "Numbuh Three, what are the...um...what's the word...elements?"

"That's easy, silly! The four elements are earth, air, water and fire. Don't you have the Special Edition Four Elements Rainbow Monkey Set back home?"

"Uh, no," he replied. "Maybe that flying bit was air. I didn't know you could do more than one..."

"Hold on, let Numbuh Five have a try," said Numbuh Five. Taking a step back as Numbuh One had done, she swept her arm forward in a hard punching motion. No fire. Instead, however, the small stream laid in front of them suddenly rose up out of the bank and a massive wave crashed majestically and washed every little thing out of the flowerbed just behind it.

"...I think you're water, Numbuh Five," said Numbuh Four.

"No, really?" sarcastically replied the girl.

"Wait, how come I-" began to complain Numbuh Two before he was cut off.

"MY TURN! HEHEHEHEHE!" the excitable Numbuh Three tried punching a fist in the air, and as was for her exuberance, did a little hop as well. Instead of fire shooting out or flying high or making the water go crazy, the very ground beneath their feet extended out in a hard wave and ended up sticking up unnaturally in jagged positions. She gasped extremely happily. "Earth! Yaaaaay!"

"But it's not fair that-" Numbuh Two was cut off once more.

"Look, let's go back into that library and read these 'storybooks' Numbuh Three found," instructed Numbuh One. And so they did, dragging along a reluctant and disappointed Numbuh Two with them. They read through the pages for hours, and found out some immensely valuable information. Apparently, this power was called "bending" and not everyone could do it, thus explaining Numbuh Two's disability to do so. Also, the "Avatar" was the spiritual being reincarnated into different nations every time, and he or she was able to bend all four elements, thus explaining why "Avatar" Nigel could find himself performing both fire and air. Everything begun to make sense to them, finally. But, as with any life-switching story, it's a bit more complicated than that.

* * *

The thirty minutes had almost passed. There was Zuko, standing in "his" backyard and cradling in his arms a small baby who was drinking from a bottle. From the looks of his outfit and hair, you'd assume that our prince had one extremely rough time doing this simplistic task. And you'd be right. Through the fence stumbled Toph, who from the looks of _her_ clothes and hair you'd assume had five times as much of a rough time as Zuko did. Again, you'd be spot on with that. "What happened to _you_?" groaned the boy.

"My sister in this world. She's _evil_!" huffed Toph. "I really hope no one else had worse. You know what, forget that. I hope everyone else had even worse than me. That, for all intents and purposes, sucked."

"That bad, huh?" asked Zuko. "Well, hate to burst your bubble, but he's not really evil. Just...extremely badly behaved."

"Worse than your sister?"

"No one's worse than my sister. But in a sense, yeah. I mean, she may be clever and cunning and, well, outright murderous, but at least she has manners."

"Dude, he's 1."

"I know..."

Out of the fence on the opposite side came strolling a figure in an aviation cap and goggles marked with the number "2" on the front.

"Sokka?" asked Zuko.

"Oh, hey Zuko," replied Sokka.

"What...where'd you get that hat?"

"Whoa, Sokka's wearing a hat?" asked Toph, smiling.

"For your information, my new little brother gave it to me," answered Sokka.

"You too?" asked Zuko.

"Yeah, but he's not as young as yours. He's like, seven or something. I walked in and he was all 'Hey Sokka! Why aren't you wearing your hat?' and he gave this to me and I rather like it, as a matter of fact."

"You look ridiculous," said Zuko.

"I do not!" retaliated Sokka.

"Well,_ I_ think it looks _fantastic!_" exclaimed Toph playfully.

"Why thank you, Toph! Good to see that someone around here has a sense of fash-OHHH! I am **so going to get you!**" Sokka angrily interrupted his own comment at the realization of what she was doing.

Breaking the moment as he drearily stepped into the yard, Aang seemed in a different state of mood. He slumped down against the house, and, looking at Sokka his spirits seems lifted for a moment, but were then drawn back down again. "Nice hat, Sokka."

"Thanks, Aa-wait, was that sarcasm too?"

"No, I really like it," said the airbender, "quite pizzazzy."

"Hey, why the long face?" asked Sokka as he sat down next to his friend, who was now picking out the blades of grass one by one. "Younger sister? Older brother? Paging Doctor Aang, what's the diagnosis here?"

"...None."

"What?" asked all three of his comrades at the same moment.

"I'm still an only child," repeated Aang. "And my dad here...glad to have a dad at all, you know, but he's crazy. I mean, all this talk about 'bonding' and 'what the newspaper says' and 'fishing' and 'sousaphones.'"

"What's a sousaphone?" asked Toph.

"It's like a giant golden tsungi horn," replied Aang.

"Hey, maybe Zuko over here can play us a concert! Eh? Eh, Zuko?" said Sokka, trying to lighten the mood. It did work a bit, as all remembered the day Iroh had gone into a little too much detail concerning Zuko's first performance when he was six and how he was so nervous he had wet his pants.

"I would so burn that hat right off your head right now if I could," muttered Zuko.

"I guess it's all right, though," said Aang, standing up. "I mean, from the looks of you guys, it's not all it's cracked up to be."

"You got that right," said Toph, resting her face in her hand.

Suddenly, Katara came running as fast as she could into the yard. Panting and sweating, her clothes were slightly singed and torn, and though that was so, it did not catch their attention as much as did the large, red cap upon her head.

"SEE?" exclaimed Sokka, "SHE HAS A HAT TOO!"

"Katara! What's wrong?" asked Aang, rushing to her help.

"It's...it's..."

"What is it?"

"C...Cree."

"Who?"

A loud BOOM, followed by a CRASH, and there was a huge mecha standing above all of them.

"...My big sister."

Laughing came from the cockpit of the machine. "Isn't it just like you, Kitty-Kat? To come crying back to your little friends when the going gets too tough on your own!" Katara's face came into a snarl, something that only made Cree smile more.

Immediately all of Team Avatar got into their fighting positions. Zuko handed Joey to Toph, "Take the kid," he said.

"What? Why me?" she asked.

"Just do it!"

"But I want to fight!"

"JUST DO IT, TOPH!" Again, a moment that would normally have resulted in a bonfire.

Sokka pulled out some 2x4 guns from some invisible area behind his back that can only be described as hammerspace. "Guys, here!" he shouted, tossing them to his friends.

They all caught them, and, knowing what to do with them by now, began shooting at Cree's mecha. She laughed again, and took a swing with one of the long, robotic arms at Sokka. He jumped up in the air, landing just behind it. About a zillion rockets emerged from the shoulder area of the mecha, and aimed themselves at the kids. Explosions rattled the yard all around as each one plunged itself into the grass. They all seemed to be able to dodge, but they didn't know for how much longer. At this, however, there came an opening as a soft spot was momentarily revealed on the monstrous machine. Katara aimed her gun and shot it. A seemingly never-ending stream of giant marshmallows shot from it, and straight into the shoulder socket of the robot. The gooey substance oozed all about the machinery and was soon stuck in every last crevice, and left that arm puffing steam and incapacitated. With a growl, the teenage girl hit a button that dislodged the entire appendage from the rest of the machine. Cree lifted one giant metal foot up, and stomped it down in attempt to crush her "sister."

"Katara! Look out!" called Sokka as he jumped to the rescue, pushing her out of the way just as the metallic boot came down.

"Aw, poor thing fell. Mind if I give you a hand?" Cree, with that soft yet evil tone of voice, somehow actually managed to make that statement work as she swung the other robot arm straight towards them.

"Duck!" called Sokka, and the _real_ brother and sister both did as the hand flew straight over them.

It didn't stop swinging, though, and was headed straight in Aang's direction. Nearly shaking in his shoes, he brought up his gun. Well, he obviously was shaking in his shoes a little more than just nearly, because him tapping his heels together in that way had caused the rockets in them to activate, sending him straight up into the skies. For a moment, he was overjoyed as he thought he may have gotten his bending back, but then realizing what had really happened, he settled for swooping down back into the fight. He flew right in through the window to the cockpit of the mecha, and tumbled down to the back.

"Ugh, why do I always have to deal with you?" said Cree in annoyance. She set the machine to auto-pilot, and turned towards Aang. "So, Numbuh Dumb, what have you got in store for me today?" He just stood up and raised his gun in a determined way. "Oh, a T.H.U.M.P.E.R.! I'm _so scared!_ What, no cute little remarks for me today? I can live with that," she sprung forward and attempted to seize him, but he leapt out of the way, "Question is, _will you?_"

"I'm not scared of you," he thought for what Katara had said her name was, "Cree."

"Of course you're not; kids never know what to be afraid of. They always choose stupid things like the dark or fairy-tale ghosts." She tried once again to grab him, but instead, he turned and grabbed her by the arm, and quickly brought her into a helpless position, T.H.U.M.P.E.R. pointed straight at her head. She, trying to keep her cool even though she'd somehow been subdued by a ten-year-old, choked out a chuckle. "The thing shoots teddy bears! Our own scientist of the group invented it back when I was a Kids Next Door."

"Yes, but how will that feel? Taking a teddy bear to the head at this speed, at this distance and angle?"

He all but had her now, and she knew it. She slid her leg backwards, about to perform the turn-flip-kick that she hoped he wouldn't remember from his own training, when Zuko hopped into the picture. "You got her?"

"Yeah," said Aang.

Zuko pointed his own weapon at her, just in case. "Relax," she said. "A girl knows when she's beaten." Where had Zuko heard that before? It sounded so familiar...Aang stood Cree up, and began to walk her out of the massive hole he had opened in the piloting area.

Now or never. She performed the turn-flip-kick, and once regained her balance, sent the other foot straight in Zuko's direction. **POW!** He was sent flying straight out of the machine. Before he had time to fight back, she picked up Aang and, easily overpowering him now, threw him out as well. Toph, wanting to get in on the action, ran towards the mecha. She slung Joey around her back, who happily hung on there all while shouting "WEEEEEEE!" Ready to fight, the girl made her way up to the enormous machine. Cree took advantage of this. She pressed a switch that caused a net to come out of the one remaining arm of the mecha, and aimed it straight at Toph. The small girl was completely covered by the net in seconds, and she, along with the baby she was holding, were both taken hostage by the teenager as Cree made the machine drive away swiftly. And just like that, Cree, Toph, and even little Joey, were gone.

"What just happened?" asked Aang, dozily getting up from his moment of unconsciousness.

"...Cree took Toph," said Zuko, "And that poor kid called my brother." Suddenly, his face rose up in revelation. "It was Azula. That's where I heard it before. When Cree said, 'a girl knows when she's beaten.' That was something Azula said once... right before she shot Uncle down...and then disappeared." And of course, he was right. Terribly, completely right and all the others could see it.


	3. Earthbender's Woes

"...and then he said, '_Leaf_ me alone! I'm _bushed!_'"

One and Four were not impressed, Five was amused and sat back with a smile, Three couldn't stop giggling and Two burst out in laughter. "That was a good one, Mr. Iroh! Mind if I use it sometime?" asked Numbuh Two.

"Of course not, my young Hoagie," the man smiled. Family dinners when your friends come over are always awkward, but it's a trillion times worse when it's not even your _real_ family, and you yourself have never met them. "If you'll excuse me, children, I'm going to go get some more dumplings." He got up to leave, and walked out of the room.

"Gee, Numbuh Four, I sure like your new uncle way better than your old one," said Numbuh Two.

Numbuh Four just scoffed. "Yeah, I guess fire powers is a bit better than toilet powers..."

Numbuh One looked at the clock. "Only a few more hours to go before day 1 is over with," he said.

"Do you guys think that everything will go back to normal tomorrow?" asked Numbuh Five.

"I sure hope so," said Numbuh Two, "My head feels naked right now."

"Tell me about it," said Numbuh Five.

"I just can't help the feeling that right now some weirdo is wearing _my hat," _said Numbuh Two.

At that moment, Iroh re-entered the room and sat down. He looked to Numbuh Four. "My nephew," he said, "I have some good news for you and some bad news for you."

"Uh...what is it, Uncle?" asked Numbuh Four, trying to keep up the part.

"The good news is; Mai will be coming back from her family vacation tomorrow."

"Oh, great!" said Numbuh Four, again, trying to sound enthusiastic even though he had no idea who this Mai even was.

"The bad news is...Azula has requested to speak to you in the mental prison."

Remembering the name from one of the news articles they had read earlier, Numbuh Four could tell that this Azula was his sister, and she was some sort of criminal. "What does she want to talk about?" he asked.

"I don't know, but it's your choice whether or not to go."

The blonde boy thought for a moment, he looked around to all his friends' faces. He thought maybe this was a good opportunity to find out more about this place, so he decided, "Yes. I'll go."

"Good," said Iroh. "I believe you have made a wise decision. Perhaps she wishes to apologize." He took another sip of his tea. "...But maybe not, so bring your best firebending," he warned the boy.

"I will," said Numbuh Four with some sort of a wicked smile, remembering the ability he had gained.

* * *

Darkness. Of course, the world had always been dark for her, but this darkness was different. Ominous. Silent. No idea whatsoever as to what was going on. No special bond connecting her to the ground allowing her to see where she was going. She was just in a car, helplessly tied up and being brought someplace against her will. A lot of terrifying things had happened in the life of Toph, but this was by far the scariest. At least when she was hanging thousands of feet above the earth's surface, Sokka was there, holding her. At least when she was kidnapped by Xin Fu and Master Yu and stuck in a metal box, she had something to work with. Here she was now. Alone. Cold. And for the first time in her whole life:

Blind.

And she was only ten years old now.

The car stopped, and she could hear a door opening. She could make out footsteps drawing nearer. She could make out the sound of the large back doors opening, and feel the gust of cold wind emerge out and into her face.

"Get out, you little brat," snapped Cree's harsh voice. She roughly grabbed Toph by the chains binding her arms and dragged her behind her as she walked. Toph could tell by the rough surface of the road and the crunch of both their footsteps that it was gravel. After about fifteen feet, the sound of another door opening became present. A shaft of drafty air, filled with dust and the smell of woodchips slowly floated out.

"Hey, Cree, what'cha got there?" came a male voice from inside the structure.

"Special delivery for the boss; one baby and one brat. A helpless infant and a just-as-helpless blind girl they let in the KND for some reason," responded Cree.

Toph could feel the boy's presence getting closer as he looked her over. "Blind, huh? She's perfect."

The young girl sensed herself being brought into the stuffy warehouse. "Sit down!" yelled Cree as she shoved her into a chair. The chains around her hands were undone momentarily, but then quickly refastened across her chest to the back of the chair.

"Hey, watch it!" said Toph.

"What, afraid of a little ropeburn?" asked the teenage boy as the chains were suddenly yanked and tightened to an even more constricting level.

Toph could feel the wind coming out of her. "What do you want with me?" she asked.

"What? Trying to get the villain to explain her plan? Just how dumb do you think I am?" teasingly asked Cree.

"So dumb you mistook _me_ for helpless," replied the younger girl.

Cree had no response but an eye roll. "Cavallero, call him and tell him what we got."

"Yes, sir," replied he as he made his way out of the room.

Cree looked at Toph menacingly and said, "All right, now it's time to tell me what you know."

Information was what she wanted? Toph smiled on the inside, she wouldn't have to pretend to not know anything, because she really didn't.

"It's come to my attention that you KNDs have come across a very, very powerful item. I want to know, what that item is, and where they're keeping it. And before you try to play the 'I won't tell you anything' game, allow me to introduce you to a little something we've conjured up," Toph could hear Cree shuffling about a bit, before she resumed her speech. "I know you can't see it, but this is the Sooper Special Decial Edition Extremely Rare Only-One-In-The-Entire-Galaxy Sooper Dooper One-Hundred-Percent Alpaca Fur Lady Ploofington Maiden of Neptune Tea Party Extravaganza Sparkles and Fairytales Rainbow Monkey, and every time you don't answer a question, she gets closer to the fire. Kapeesh? So start talking!"

Every kid in the entire world (except Wally Beatles) loved Rainbow Monkeys. They couldn't resist the lovey-dovey cutesy-wootsey sharing kindness and LOVE they brought. Good thing Toph wasn't from this world, and barely even had an idea as to what a Rainbow Monkey even was. "No."

"No? Well, okay then..." A loud clank filled the room as Lady Ploofington was sent down a notch. "Will you tell me now?"

Toph was rather amused at how ineffective Cree's method was on her. "No," she said again.

Another clank; and the monkey was yet lower. "She's four steps away now. Tell me, and maybe you'll get to keep it."

"I'm not telling you one thing, Cree."

"I admire your guts, kid, but we all know what'll happen next if you keep on refusing." The doll, once more, was dropped down a level.

"I won't. No matter what you do, I'll never say." Toph was really enjoying hamming it up.

Cree was now getting angry. Why wouldn't the girl speak up? She pulled the lever and sent Lady Ploofington one step closer to doom.

Toph decided she would now put even more oomph into her acting. "I'll **never** tell you! Not ever, for as long as I live the words shall never leave my lips!"

Again, the toy dropped. "Listen, this is your last chance, Kids Next Doofus, one more and it's bye-bye dolly!"

"...Bye-bye, dolly!" said Toph enthusiastically.

"That's it!" cried Cree. She pulled the lever one last time, and the Rainbow Monkey was cast into the flames. The stuffing burned, and all that remained was black crisp of what was once a thousand sparkles.

"...By the way, Cree, I know absolutely nothing about this 'powerful item' anyway." Toph gave her a teasing "whoops!" type of smile, and the teenager was drawn over the edge.

* * *

Numbuh Three suddenly jerked her head up and gasped loudly. "I sense a disturbance in the Rainbow Monkey force," she said worriedly.

"Chill, girl. Probably just missin' home is all," said Numbuh Five, trying to reassure her friend. Of course, even being worlds away, Numbuh Three was never wrong about Rainbow Monkeys. The five operatives had been somewhat disappointed to have woken up in the strange universe yet again.

"Hey, at least the food here is pretty decent," said Numbuh Two, plopping another bite of breakfast pastry into his mouth. He, too, was attempting to lighten the mood.

Without warning, the door of the dining room opened. In entered a pale-faced girl, whose expression seemed that of complete disinterest. There was silence as she looked at each one of them. Eventually, she said, "Hm, expecting more of a welcome party, I guess." She walked over and seated herself next to Numbuh Four. "I have to admit, while it's a bit nicer without every one of you running your mouths at the same time, it makes me a little suspicious." She turned towards the boy next to her. "Wally, what's going on? You're not planning a surprise for me, are you? Because I hate surprises."

"No, no surprises," replied Numbuh Four. "Just uh...tired, is all."

"Well, good," she said. "Maybe I can have a day of peace before Ty Lee gets back tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah," said Numbuh Four, pretending to know who that was exactly.

There was more silence as the girl took some of the baked food. She looked to Numbuh Two, "You must be happy."

Numbuh Two was completely confused, and it showed on his face.

"You know that Suki and Ty Lee are coming back together, right?"

"Oh, yeah!" he feigned a laugh. "Can't wait." Something was really unsettling about this girl. Who was she, anyway? Maybe it was that monotonous tone of voice, or how her face was entirely blank, but it was probably just how they were supposed to know her and they didn't.

After about ten minutes passed in the awkward air that made it feel like longer, someone in a messenger's uniform entered the room. "Your Majesty," he said, directed towards Numbuh Four. The Australian straightened up in a reminder that he was royal now. "A message from the warden at Boiling Rock Mental Facilities: your appointment with the patient has been scheduled for two day's time at the hour of three o'clock in the afternoon."

"Thank you," replied the boy in his most proper-sounding voice. The man bowed, and, not knowing what to say next, or why he wouldn't leave, he just said: "You may be excused," loving the power he now held over people. The man promptly exited.

The pale girl turned towards him. "What was that all about?"

Four tried to remember it himself. "I'm going to have a word with Azula."

The girl's eyes widened, in the first expression anyone had seen her make this entire time. "Why? You know she won't listen to you. She'll probably try to murder you again."

_So, that's what they stuck her in the crazy-shack for, _thought everyone else. "Don't worry, I can handle her," said Four, not really knowing since he had never met her. "And besides, _she_ called _me_. So she'd better have something important to say." Some of his friends now thought he was getting way too into character here.

At this moment, yet another servant of sorts entered the room. "Lady Mai, your father insists you return home at this time."

The girl stood up and sighed. "Well, nice not talking to you," she said, heading out of the room and following the servant. No one could really tell whether or not she was being sarcastic.

"Who was that anyway?" asked Numbuh Two.

"Apparently, that was the Mai that Iroh told us about last night," replied Numbuh One.

* * *

By this time, Team Avatar had given up trying to find Toph (and that far less important child) for the moment and had headed back to the Treehouse to meet up.

"What are we going to do?" asked Aang.

"Something. We always do," said Zuko. Truer words could not be spoken. They always found a solution to problems, from as small as a feud between two tribes or as large-scale as a hundred year long war.

Before another thought could be spoken, a large screen mounted on the wall of the room came to life. The image of a colorfully-dressed girl with dirty blonde hair, a strange-looking hat with the number "362" inscribed on it, and a look nothing short of completely serious on her face. "Sector V!" she said. "Listen up you guys; remember that glowing space-rock thing you found? Turns out it's a _lot_ more important than we thought it was. So we've put it in our special labs here for studying, but the adults and teenagers are trying to get their hands on it, and we just found out something and we need you guys here ASAP."

Immediately, the memory of the five finding a similar rock sprung up in each mind. They were ecstatic to find out what it is, but they knew they couldn't leave someone behind. "What about Toph?" asked Aang to his friends.

The girl on the screen heard this, and her face momentarily flashed a look of worry. "Where is Numbuh Three?" she asked.

"She was kidnapped by Cree," said Katara, hoping the girl would know who she was talking about.

"The teens have Numbuh Three?! Oh, this is not good. All right, you guys need to find her quick. Then come up here at once. We'll send you reinforcements. Three-Sixty-Two out." And then the whole thing turned to black.

It only seemed like two minutes and a half before a green flying ship docked at the Treehouse. They assumed that wherever the base was, it had to be really close otherwise it wouldn't be so quick. Unbeknownst to them the base was actually on the Moon and KND vehicles just move really really fast. The doors opened, and, following some dramatic fog, stepped out an operative. She wore orange and green with a samurai-style helmet atop her head, any hair she had compressed neatly underneath. The look on her face was a stern scowl, and they could already tell what to address her as by the number on her helmet. 86. The ship she had arrived in closed up, and took off back into the sky behind her.

The fact that she was the only one there confused Aang a little. "Are you all the reinforcements?"

The look on Eighty-Six's face turned meaner, as she answered: "They sent more, but they were all _boys_. And new recruits, at that! So I figured I could handle this one on my own." Her voice when she spoke sounded very odd, an accent none of them could place.

"Okay, well, you'll help us find Toph-I mean Number Three?" asked Katara, remembering the odd codename system.

"Yes, that's what I'm here to do. You said the teenagers took her?"

"Yeah, my sister," replied Katara in-character.

Numbuh Eighty-Six turned towards Sokka viciously. "Well, what are you boneheads waiting for?! Let's go! Bring up a map of the known teen hideouts."

"Yes, sir!" stuttered Sokka. Apparently he was supposed to know how to work this stuff.

"**WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!**" boomed the enraged girl. "Why I oughtta..." she began muttering threats in his direction, and after a few seconds was steamed out. She facepalmed, and pointed at Aang, Sokka, and Zuko. "Look, you three good-for-nothing boys can stay _here_ where you'll have all the freedom to be as _disgusting_ as you like, while Numbuh Five and I go do the REAL MISSION!"

"Hey, she's our friend! We should help save her!" exclaimed Sokka.

"Yeah, and it's my fault she got captured, anyway. I should definitely go," said Zuko.

"What? No way, Zuko, it was my fault I led Cree to where you guys all were in the first place," said Katara.

Then the room fell into an explosion of words, everyone yelling at each other for one reason or another. Finally, a roar emerged over the others, "**QUIET!**" and all the rest fell silent. Numbuh Eighty-Six continued, "Look, whatever happened I'm sure it _was_ Numbuh Four's fault. He always messes everything up. And fine, if you idiotic boys insist on coming then do but DON'T MAKE ANY NOISE!" Aang opened his mouth and was about to say something, but she interrupted him- "AND THAT'S AN ORDER!" He stopped.

The six of them all piled into Sector V's own ship, and Numbuh Eighty-Six did everything. If one of the boys so much as tried to touch one of the buttons, she slapped them away and yelled at them. Even Katara was disgusted at her sexist actions; in fact Katara was probably the most offended. But they flew all around in the sky until Eighty-Six said, "I found them. They're in that warehouse. Now let's all go, but make sure you stupid boys don't do anything stupid and mess up the whole mission!"

All nodded their heads in silent acknowledgement.

* * *

Well, if you were suddenly given extraordinary powers, you'd want to use them as often as you can, would you not? That's exactly the mindset Numbuh Four had. He had made his way into a little sectioned-off portion of the large garden to practice his firebending in private. So much had happened. So much had changed. Did he care? Not really. Okay, maybe a little bit, but not enough to actively freak out about it. At first, yeah, the whole prospect seems outrageous, but coming from where he does, stuff like this and worse happens on a daily basis. This being the only strange thing so far this week is a vacation. He was having fun with this; shooting one hand into the air to release a shaft of flames one way, kicking out his leg to send some fire in the opposite direction. He tried different positions, different ways of doing it, and found some ways more effective than others. One thing, though, that made it hard for him was that you had to channel something inside of you. You couldn't just think, "Fire, come!" and then there would be fire. You had to feel it, breathe it, to coax it out of its hiding place. The only way it would ever accidentally is if you were extremely angry. Something that made it easier, however, was the fact that he wasn't exactly at "square one." In his mind, he had never done this before coming here. Technically, he had been training in this art his whole life. His muscles were already trained to the movements, and that made it a little easier. The fire was already familiar with him. He was the one not quite yet familiar with the fire. He was different in other ways, as well. Not only was he taller and older, but smarter and wiser as well. Being, well, _Wally_ he was never the brightest bulb in the place-where-you-keep-the-bulbs, but being sixteen now, even though he wasn't really sixteen, changed him a little. He was more mature, in a way. So many changes. So many things to keep track of. Did he care? Not really. He just went about his business brainstorming for a way to roast marshmallows without a stick. If they even had marshmallows here. Whatever. He'd get some when he went home. He really wanted some marshmallows now. He turned around, and in one of his attempts to make flames leap out of both his hands and feet at the same time, he found himself face first on the ground. Opening his eyes, he found himself also staring at some simple, yet ornate, undoubtedly Fire Nation footwear.

"And just what are you doing?" came the deadpan female voice.

_Oh, great, it's her again, t_hought Numbuh Four. _That creepy one._ "Just practicing some firebending," he said casually, standing up and dusting off his trousers with his hands.

"Firebending or failbending?" Mai commented sarcastically.

"Har har," Numbuh Four replied with just as much sarcasm, although he had to admit that one was pretty good.

"Why do you need to practice, anyway? I thought you were like, an expert or something."

He sneered, "Even experts need practice."

"True," she said, and without notice a sharp blade emerged from her hand and lodged itself into a tree 30 meters away.

"Whoa, where did _that_ come from?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"From my knife belt," was the reply as the girl twisted her waist and lifted her arm, revealing a frightening display of knifes, throwing stars, and other very sharp things that would quite hurt given the chance to be stuck in someone's eye.

He looked down at the unfortunate tree, wondering how she could throw with such precision and accuracy, and speed.

"Like you said. Experts practice too." Somehow, the newly-discovered knife-throwing abilities of this girl lessened her creepiness, but increased her intimidation by ten. She latched her arm around his, another unforeseen action. "No more practice for now, though," she said, leading him away with firmness. "Come sit with me," it was more of a straightforward command than an offer. He could pretty much feel his face turning pink, and definitely would protest against it if it wouldn't earn him a knife in the throat. So he followed as she led to a small bench overlooking a valley. She sat down, and he did, too.

There was an awkward silence for quite a few moments, neither knowing who should speak first. Honestly, Numbuh Four was just scared his life would end early should he say the wrong thing, although he'd never admit to being afraid of a girl in front of any of his friends. Or enemies, for that matter. Eventually he decided to try his luck (despite the fact that luck had many a bone to pick with someone called **Four**, and he knew it). "So...what do you think of the flowers?" he felt safest with a question, even though it sounded just so stupid.

"I hate them. Way too colorful for me," she replied.

"I can tell," he said back, taking note of her preference for grey shades.

As the Sun began to set, she laid her head on his shoulder. _Okay..._ he thought, _that's a bit strange..._ She subtly, but surely, began to snuggle closer to him. An alarm went off inside his head. _Oh crud oh crud oh crud._ _What do I do?_

"You've been having a rough time, recently," she said. "I can see it."

"Yeah, I guess you can say that..."

She looked up and turned his head towards hers gently. "What's wrong?" again, it sounded more of a direct order than a question.

"Well...it's just...I...uh...It's, um, hard to put in words..."

"I know what you mean, not being able to express yourself," she seemed to have just the slightest hint of something other than indifference now, although he could not tell exactly what it was. "You get used to it." Then, with one movement, she leaned in, and pressed her lips against his own. His eyes stayed wide open in disbelief, shock, and practically came right out and screamed and screamed. His entire face became bright red, and while part of his mind was saying "EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEW!" another part said it felt natural. That's when he realized, in this universe, this girl, this grey, emotionless Mai...was his girlfriend.

Fate couldn't have picked a worse time for a happy, uppity and bright little girl to come skipping along the path. She was looking for her friend, because her other friend had something important to tell him. Numbuh Three was about to call, "Hey Numbuh Four!" in a sweet singsong voice, before she caught sight of the scene. Then she stopped in her tracks, all other thoughts erased from her mind. Mouth gaping wide open, and eyes, while also wide open, beginning to form tears. Before anything else could be done, she started crying heavily as she ran back to the palace, leaving dirt and rocks flying all about her path as she ran.


	4. I Was Sitting on a Sky Bison One Day

Author's Note: Guess what? I just figured out how to do author's notes! Sorry for no update on Saturday or Sunday, I was super busy with theater stuff. Enjoy!

* * *

"NO TIME FOR DRAMA, YOU SISSIES!" shouted the angry Irish girl at her "incompetent team of males."

"But I was just-"

"DON'T USE BUTS WITH ME, NUMBUH TWO!"

Grumbling, Sokka opened the door and hopped out. All else followed, and landed upon the gravel with five distinct crunches. "_Jeez, I just wanted to know where that burrito came from..." _the hat-clad boy muttered under his beath.

They all sneaked up to the warehouse door, weapons prepared. Numbuh Eighty-Six made some sort of a signal with her hands that would indicate an order, except no one knew exactly what she was trying to say. "Did none of you pay attention in Basic Training?" she asked in a hushed, yet harsh, tone. "Just follow me." She slowly, very cautiously opened the door. She took one step in, and motioned for the rest to follow. It was completely pitch-black dark in the room. Not a thing could be seen. Moving swiftly through the shadows, Numbuh Eighty-Six decided it would be safe to turn a flashlight on. She flipped the switch on one, and a beam of light illuminated the floor, as well as many dust particles floating in the air. She moved the ray around in search, when suddenly a crash could be heard. Not a loud, booming crash, but a small, tiny crash. More like the sound of someone dropping a jar of mayonnaise on the ground after just receiving the shocking news that mayonnaise contains egg whites, which said person hates, prompting them to drop it. She quickly moved the beam in the direction of the noise, and the edge of some box-shaped thing could be seen. Moving closer, it became apparent that the box-shaped thing was like a cage, with bars all around it for holding something captive. Although it couldn't be a cage, as there was no top to it, which was completely open, defeating the point of keeping something captive. It also was obviously not designed for discomfort, as there was quite a bit of padding on the inside, and the bottom resembled that of a rocking chair. Then they realized a few of the bars were missing, and lay on the ground. It seemed that these could have fallen out, thus creating the thumping sound. Then it came to them; it was a cradle. Almost as soon as this realization struck them, the theory was proven by childlike giggling coming from the darkness. Of course, the team immediately knew who it was. Numbuh Eighty-Six didn't. "What was that?" she asked quietly.

"It's Joey, my little brother," replied Zuko.

"She got your little brother, too?" asked Numbuh Eighty-Six.

"Yeah, I gave him to Numbuh Three at the beginning of the fight to hold onto him," replied Zuko.

"What?" the higher-up was now seething with anger, which was not an unusual sight, and she attempted to keep her voice low through the reprimanding. "Why on earth would you give him to Numbuh Three? Should have just kept him to yourself and let a _real _fighter take on the teen. Probably wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for you!" She gave him a little shove, and he was about to shove back when the lights all suddenly came on, temporarily rendering them a group of confused blinking.

Slow footsteps came towards them, and when they turned, saw that it was none other than Cree herself, cradling the infant in her arms as she approached them. "Ooh, my, you managed to find my hideout. Well done, well done..." she said sarcastically.

"Look, Cree, just give us back Numbuh Three and no one gets hurt," threatened Eighty-Six.

"Ooh, I'm so scared!" out came more sarcasm. She placed the baby into the cradle, which now, when seen in full light, was revealed to be darkly colored and menacing-looking. She grabbed a chair, and harshly turning it around, revealed Toph with a gag in her mouth. "You can have her back." She pushed the chair forward onto the ground hardly, and the girl was thrown face-first against the concrete floor with it. An expression of pain quickly followed. "She was really annoying me. Kinda useless, anyway. I don't even know why you guys let her be a KND, being blind and all." She began to walk out of the room. "Guess it just proves how stupid you all are..."

Her friends quickly ran to the aid of Toph, untying her and removing the gag as well as helping her to her feet. She looked worn and beaten, but still the glimmer of determination ceased to fade from the pale eyes. "Wait, what's the catch?" the former captive asked. "You wouldn't just let me go like that. What, did you put a tracker on me or something? Did you give me some infectious virus? What?"

"No catch, sweetheart, you're just that useless," came the smug teenager.

This only served to enrage her even more. She couldn't see with her feet, but she could hear, and she knew full well the direction Cree was in. "I am **not** useless," she began to charge towards her, but her teammates held her back, not wanting something worse to befall her.

"Toph, calm down, it's psychology," said Sokka. "She's _trying _to make you angry."

"Come on, let's just get out of here," said Katara. "We don't want more trouble."

"Ugh, how anticlimactic," grumbled Numbuh Eighty-Six, clearly wanting to beat the living snot out of Cree.

Zuko walked over to the spooky cradle, and still feeling responsible for Joey, tried to take him out. As soon as his hand got close, a beam of red appeared out of nowhere and burnt his fingers. "Ah!"

"Oh, no, you can't have him," said Cree, looking in Zuko's direction. "Sorry."

"What do you mean we can't have him back?" asked Zuko.

"Well, unlike your girlfriend over here, he's actually worth something," she replied.

"And what do you mean he's worth something?" he asked again, getting into an offensive position.

"Well, Blondie Jr. is still a baby. He hasn't had time to learn certain things yet, like math, or how to talk in complete sentences...or the difference between right and wrong..."

"And what you're saying is-"she cut him off.

"Is that he'll grow up hating the Kids Next Door. Because of how they took him away from his family, and how horrible they are. And he'll be trained by his loving mentor, Cree, who rescued him from the cruel KND and raised him up into a fighting, powerful, teenage KND-destroying machine!"

Now her intentions were clear. The whole "kidnap and raise to be evil" ploy. Without a second thought (mostly due to the now ten-year-old mind), Zuko charged towards her and began firing his M.U.S.K.E.T. straight at her. She easily dodged the attack with a backflip. She hit a button on her suit, and a helmet formed on her head. When reaching for one of her ninja-style throwing stars, some of the gooey yellow scathed her back. She quickly got over this and sent three sharp stars straight at Zuko's head. He ducked just in time, and only the tips of his black hair were chopped off. The stars had lodged themselves in the wall behind him. _Look just like Mai's,_ he observed in his head just before dodging three more. At this time, his fellow operatives had come to help him. They all fired their weapons at her at once, but she was able to dodge nearly every shot. Every once in a while she'd get a smear of mustard to the cheek courtesy of Zuko or Eighty-Six (who were awkwardly equipped with the same gun), or perhaps some ketchup from Katara (who had a variation of the same gun), or a gumball in the hair from Sokka, or some toothpaste to the arm from Aang. At one point, Eighty-Six even took off her helmet, letting loose a mass flurry of red hair, and threw it straight at Cree's head, temporarily stunning her but doing no real harm. Toph didn't have a weapon, but she was able to help by sneaking behind Cree. It was somewhat hard, as ninjas don't make much noise, since noise was all she had to work with. But the few grunts and the swinging of nunchucks were enough. The girl carefully approached behind her, hoping she wouldn't be seen. She wasn't, as the teen was occupied with five armed kid soldiers, and that gave Toph an opening to push her from behind. Losing her balance, Cree stumbled across the floor and fell on her side. She quickly got up, however, but then...she was knocked down again. This time, by a diaperless baby swinging across the rafters _with_ his diaper as if it were a vine. At this fall, she was successfully knocked out. All five who could see looked at him with amazement. They didn't even bother to ask how, it was too absurd. Of course, this was a universe full of anthropomorphic asparagus and the like, so a baby who somehow managed to escape a laser prison twice and use his own bathroom as a method of transportation wasn't all that outrageous. So tiredly they all got back into the KND vehicle, and Team Avatar was just plain glad to be rid of Numbuh Eighty-Six when she left. On the way to the Treehouse, they had dropped Joey back off at Zuko's new house- not that Mrs. Beatles had noticed the difference.

"That girl was worse than you were, Sokka," said Katara to her brother.

"Hey, now I wasn't all that bad..."

"Not as bad as her, but still pretty bad," said Aang.

"Whatever. I'm thirsty," he said, looking into a fridge. "Hey, what's this root beer stuff...?"

The rest of his friends looked on in interest.

* * *

Numbuh Five entered the room to find her friend curled up on the bed, sobbing into a pillow. "...Numbuh Three?" she asked, walking over to beside the bed. "What's goin' on?"

"I don't want to talk about it," was the muffled reply.

"Come on now," said Numbuh Five. She sat down on the bed next to her. "You can tell Numbuh Five." She wasn't used to these kinds of situations, but she knew what to do when they came along.

Numbuh Three lifted her head from out of the pillow and rested it back down on top of it. "It's-it's just..." she gulped down another tear. "I was so _sure._ I was so sure he liked me. I was so good at hiding how **I** feel, but I was just so _sure_ he liked me back." She turned over to face away from the older girl. "And...and I saw him. _Kissing _that new girl. I mean...we haven't even known her for a _day,_ and...and..." she could no longer contain herself enough to talk through the tears. She burst out in another loud wail, face ever puffy and red.

Numbuh Five couldn't believe what she was hearing. Numbuh Four? That's who she was talking about, surely. But Numbuh Four? Wally? "Kuki," she said, "you let Numbuh Five worry about what Mister Hothead does next. For now, just forget him. Can you do that for Numbuh Five?"

"Okay," was the sniffling response. "Thanks, Abby." She wiped her face on her sleeve.

The two girls engaged in a hug. "It'll all be okay," whispered Numbuh Five to Numbuh Three over the latter's shoulder.

* * *

"WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!

TERRORS OF THE SEA!

WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!"

"And I'm a lady who likes tea!"

The previously tired children were now as full of life and energy as ever due to the newly-discovered root beer, which effects were much like that of what a mix between the herbal concoction Aang took in attempt to trigger the Avatar State once and cactus juice would be. They had discovered a new song to sing, and quite enjoyed belting it out as loud as they could. And yes, "they" is a group term meaning "all five of them." Even Zuko, while being far less exuberant than the others, was still singing along with them.

"Okay! Okay! It's my turn," said Aang. He hopped up on top on the couch and began; "I was sitting on a cloud one day,

When I saw something and I had to say,

'My oh my,

How can they fly?'

It was giant bunny rabbits!

So they pulled me off the cloud,

And my screaming was loud,

For the giant bunny rabbits!"

And all together they joined in for the chorus.

"WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!

TERRORS OF THE SEA!

WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!"

"And I'm a lady who likes tea!"

"And I'm jumping off a cloud, whoopee!"

They all were overtaken with laughter. "Toph's turn!" said Sokka.

"Hmm...what should I do?" she asked.

All kinds of suggestions popped up from the others, "A spaceman!"

"A platypus bear!"

"A pirate!"

"Okay, I'll do a pirate!" she said.

"I was lounging on the deck one day,

When I saw something and I had to say,

'What be those

With the ears? Who knows?'

It was giant bunny rabbits!

So they pulled me off my ship,

And then they took a dip,

Those giant bunny rabbits!"

"WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!

TERRORS OF THE SEA!

WE'RE GIANT BUNNY RABBITS!"

"And I'm a lady who likes tea!"

"And I'm jumping off a cloud, whoopee!"

"And I'm as crazy as can be!"

"Whoo! My turn!" exclaimed Sokka.

"I was eating a fruit one day-" suddenly he was cut off by Zuko.

"Guys, we're out of root beer!"

"Oh, no!" came everyone else.

"Look, I'm sure there's some more around here," said Sokka. He scrounged around a bit, playing with things here and there. This futuristic setting (well, futuristic to them, anyway) meant that any little button or switch could open up a secret compartment. Suddenly, after hitting one of the buttons, the same screen that had lit up earlier came to life once again.

Numbuh Three-Sixty-Two appeared once more. She seemed to be occupied with something at the moment, but soon noticed she was being contacted. "Sector V!" she yelled. "What are you all doing? I told you to get your sorry butts back up here once you're done finding Numbuh Three!"

Oh, crud. Yes, she had said that, and everyone had forgotten after the excitement of the rescue scene and the discovery of root beer. "I-I-we're sorry, sir-ma'am!" stuttered Sokka, knowing that his face would be front and center on the other end.

"Well sorry isn't good enough. We don't know why Cree had Numbuh Three in the first place and it all could have been a distraction to attack us up here, you know," replied the leader sternly.

"She asked me questions," piped up Toph, walking over nearer to Sokka. "She was trying to get information out of me."

"Did you tell her anything?" a now worried but just as stern Numbuh Three-Sixty-Two asked.

"No, not a thing," Toph replied.

The Soopreme Leader sighed a sigh of relief. "Well, good. And I'm glad you're safe. It's just, things have been getting real crazy up here and I really do need your help." She seemed somewhat apologetic for her anger before.

"Yes, right away, ma'am," said Aang, hopping up as well and saluting.

"All right. See you up here. Three-Sixty-Two out." And the screen became black.

"So, what next?" asked Zuko, stretching his arms.

"Next, we find out how to work one of these KND machines," said Sokka.

* * *

"WALLY BEATLES!" came the booming, thundering cry of the best friend of the woman scorned. Numbuh Five rarely ever got angry, and even now she wasn't so, just unable to find the king's bedroom. She eventually located the door, and swung it open. The blonde-haired boy was sitting on his bed in shock, just staring blankly at the window, no emotions. "Oh no, it's contagious, isn't it?" said Abby, taking in his face. Numbuh Five approached him. "What? You're not going to look at me?"

"Oh, hey, Numbuh Five," said Numbuh Four, apparently just noticing her presence in the room, still not moving his head. "Using first-person pronouns all of a sudden?"

"Understanding words all of a sudden?" was her dry reply. "What is wrong with you? You're not moving, your face is as white as a baby's butt, and Numbuh Three's a train wreck right now because of you."

Finally he turned his face to her, and finally he expressed a facial expression; one of confusedness. "What did I ever do to Numbuh Three?"

"Well, for one thing, you yell at her all the time and call her a baby for liking Rainbow Monkeys..."

"Yeah, yeah, but I mean what did I do to offend her? She never gets mad at that stuff normally."

"How about making kissy-face to someone you don't even know right in front of her?"

"WHAT?!" he burst. "Wha-wha...she saw that?! I didn't kiss Mai! SHE kissed ME! I don't even like her! I think maybe in this universe she's supposed to be my girlfriend or somethin'..." he gagged. "It makes me want to puke! Actually, I DID puke a few times before you came in. It's...it's all a misunderstanding."

"Well then, why don't you tell Numbuh Three that?"

"I don't think I can. I mean, what if I really mess some dude's life up by breaking up with Mai? Besides, why would she care, anyway?" he looked down to the floor.

"You really don't know?...And, also, since when have you cared about how you might mess up some random dude's life? We don't even know if what we do affects _them._ We don't even know for sure if there is a 'them' to begin with!"

"I don't know. I've just been thinking about things a lot more than usual. It feels kind of weird."

"What, using your brain?"

"Ha, ha, very funny. But in a way, yeah. I don't know what it is." He began rubbing his temples.

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you're finally four-foot-eleven."

"Could you hold off on the short jokes for a-wait, that could actually be it..."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm supposed to be older now, right?"

"Yeah, you're sixteen."

"I'll bet that's what it is."

"Well, I'm happy for you. I'm fourteen. Numbuh Two's fifteen, Numbuh One's twelve and so is Numbuh Three. We're all enjoying being teenagers and having avoided the descent into evil. Now listen, you need to go explain this whole thing to Numbuh Three. And if you don't, Numbuh Five will."

"Fine, you go do it then. I may be older now but I'm still not good with words!"

The girl left, somewhat satisfied and actually glad for the revelation.

All done, all finished. With the Mai drama, at least. The story is nowhere near over. But stories never really end, do they? They just go on and on for infinity, and the listener has to be satisfied with whatever note the storyteller stopped on.

* * *

Numbuh Five was never more glad to be done with a problem causing so much trouble in so little a time. She moseyed around, coming once more to that wonderful location of so many events: the garden. She, while walking, stopped short at the sight of a large rock mound unnaturally jutting up from the ground. She smiled, and called "Numbuh Three?"

"Go away. Numbuh Three isn't here right now. Please come again later. Or don't. Please choose the second, thank you."

"Numbuh Three, it's just me."

Two baseball-sized rocks launched themselves from the cavern, revealing a set of wet brown eyes through the gap. "How did you know I was here?"

"Well, when your friend suddenly obtains the power to control rock formations, and a cave pops up right in the middle of an otherwise caveless area..."

"Okay, okay." Many more of the rocks curled back, opening a side of the cave almost completely. "Did...did you talk to him?"

"Yup," said Numbuh Five, coming in and resting herself down on a boulder. "And Numbuh Five's got some news you'd like to hear."

"Really?" the younger girl's eyes brightened up, and she leaned slightly forward in anticipation of the good news.

"Turns out Emo Freak and Numbuh Four are a couple in this universe, but he had no idea whatsoever. When she kissed him, he was just as shocked as you were. Probably even more. He was a real mess, you know. Freakin' out over the whole thing. In other words: Four doesn't like Mai."

"He doesn't?" asked Numbuh Three, sorting it out in her head. "He...he doesn't!" She jumped up, and suddenly the entire structure burst open around them. "He doesn't!" she shouted once more in complete excitement and glee.

Without warning, a humungous shadow overcast them. A voice was heard. "Hey! Be careful where you throw those things, you almost hurt him!"

"Numbuh Two?-OH MY-"

A massive, hairy, smelly mass with two large horns and six furry legs landed right beside the two girls, sending a flurry of fast wind in their direction. The creature let out a sound that could only be described as a mix between a roar and a very obnoxious yawn. Numbuhs One and Two were both sitting on its saddle; Two firmly gripping the reigns as if they were his last chance of survival, One firmly gripping the fur as if it was _his_ last chance of survival. Both had unmistakably large grins spread across their faces.

"What _is_ that thing?!" exclaimed Numbuh Three.

"We made a couple of new friends," said Numbuh Two. "This is Appa, 'The Avatar's trusty steed' and this," a smaller creature whose ears were bigger than the rest of its body scurried up onto his shoulder and made a chirping noise, "is Momo."

"Ooooh! He's so cute!" cried Numbuh Three, forgetting her momentary fear and showering the animals with her special Kuki brand of love.

Numbuh One could not say anything; he only sat there on the saddle with the look of pure fun, as he was far too winded from the ride to do much else.

"You guys would not BELIEVE the adventure we had just now," said Numbuh Two.

"Yeah..." said Numbuh One, finally breaking his haze and sliding off the animals' back, however no less happy than before. "It was cool, with the Ancient Blackened Mustard and everything. And we also met some other new people, too. Ty Lee and Suki, they called themselves Kyoshi Warriors. You guys should meet them, to, I don't know, talk about girl stuff I guess. They're staying in whatever passes for a hotel around here."

Numbuh Two giggled and blushed luminously. "And Suki kissed me on the cheek." He giggled again. "She's my _girlfriend._"

"And we never thought it could be done," said Numbuh One, patting his friend on the back.

"Good for you," said Numbuh Five. "Looks like we all need to get some rest after recent events, then."

"Why, what happened to you guys?" asked Numbuh Two.

"Numbuh Five does **not** want to go over it again. Just go ask Numbuh Four, he'll probably tell ya," said Numbuh Five. "Come on, Numbuh Three."

"Awww," said Numbuh Three, her face half buried in Appa's fur. "Can't I snuggle for just a little longer?"

"Appa probably needs a bath, anyway," said Numbuh One. "I wonder who we can get around here to do that for us..."

"Oh, okay..." said a disappointed Numbuh Three, retracting herself from the bison. "Bye-bye, Appa! Bye-bye, Momo! See you guys later!" Momo chirped again and waved his hand goodbye, seeming to understand and also seeming to miss her as well.

* * *

Author's Note: "Giant Bunny Rabbits" used with permission by my best melon who invented the song game.


	5. A Royal Pain in the Neck

"And see, this here is a Proto-Direction-Correction Liquifimodificator Jabber-The-Ham Thingamabob, very important."

"Sokka, that's a _steering wheel,_ even I know that," said Katara.

"Right, yes, a _steering wheel._ I knew that. It's just, technical terms, you know," said Sokka again, trying to prove his knowledge superior.

"I think he's just trying to sound smart. And failing, being, well, you know, Sokka, and all," snarked Toph in a whisper to Aang beside her. She and the airbender both snickered.

"Now," said Sokka, looking below the wheel. "I do believe these pedals down here serve a vitally important function." He pressed down on one with his hand. "It would seem, due to their connection with the fuel tanks, that they would serve to activate the acceleration. But how..." he trailed off, looking around.

A jingly sound came from behind. Katara, Sokka, and Zuko turned around to see Aang throwing some metal keys up and down. "Haha, Momo would love these."

"...I think we found our answer," said Katara. She took them, and showed them to Sokka. "Look at these, they look sort of like keys, and we use keys in a keyhole, and look."

Sokka turned towards the wheel once again. "A keyhole! Brilliant!" He took the keys from his sister, and fitted one into the hole. He turned it, and, by some miracle, the vehicle started up.

"Woohoo!" cheered everyone else.

"Thank you, thank you," said Sokka, taking a light bow. "It would seem that Sokka has saved us all with his amazing understanding of technology once again. Now let's go." He sat in the chair, placed his hands on the wheel, and placed his feet on the pedals. The machine leaped into the air, and, seemingly only by the means of simple plot-escalation, he was able to maneuver it perfectly. "Heh. You know, we could invent these back home. Call them, 'automobiles.'"

"Why that?" asked Toph.

"Because they AUTOmatically are MOBILE," pointed out Sokka.

"That's ridiculous, Sokka," said Aang playfully.

As speed began to pick up, Toph made a gagging face. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

* * *

Numbuh Four took a deep breath. If his girlfriend had been emotionless, almost all creatures in the world were a hybrid of some sort, and almost all of the people had fantastic supernatural abilities...then what would his sister be like? He didn't even know what it was like to have a sister. Let alone one with fire powers who was apparently locked up in the nut house. He was all ready to be taken to the Mental Institute, just barely ready to face what was about to unfold. Before he left, Mai gave him a small kiss on the cheek, which he pretended to accept but was only feeling a landslide of awkwardness about on the inside. He was led into some sort of royal carriage led by four large ostrich-horses, and they were off. It didn't seem to take too long to get from the castle to the prison; only about thirty minutes or so. Or perhaps his sense of time had just been incredibly fractured since arriving here, which he was sure was almost certainly the case. It was a giant, intimidating building made from dark metals and stones with numerous spiked watchtowers posted around, no doubt guarded by ready trained firebenders. He, followed by guards, entered through the many gates finally leading up to the massive doors. It took a lot to open them, five people needed to push just one. He came up to a desk in the front of the structure, with a buff, tall man sitting there. "Welcome to the Fire Nation Mental Prison, my Lord," said the man with some sort of unwelcoming hiss in his voice. "I am Fa Peng, the main warden of this establishment." He stood up. "I understand you have come to see your sister, Princess Azula. You will follow me; I will lead you to her room." His sternness only gave him a disapproving, imposing appearance. Numbuh Four wondered if he was always like this, or if he just sincerely hated him for some reason. Fa Peng led him through long, twisted, cavernous passageways that seemed to go on forever. Finally, the catacombs came to an end when the warden stopped at a door. He took out a metal key ring and sifted through the numerous identical shapes. He stopped on one, tried it in the keyhole, and the door opened up. Inside laid a teenage girl on a wooden bed, whose dark black hair fell like a curtain and whose voice came out in the most intimidating way possible. They could not even see her face, for she was turned away from them.

"Come to bring me my supper already?" She turned around, and caught sight of the boy at the door. She smiled, and came off of the bed, taking a few steps closer. "Hello, Wally. Finally come to see your sickly sister, hm?"

He did not answer, for Fa Peng then spoke. "I will leave you two to converse in private, but if anything goes wrong, we will know and will come in immediately." He turned to leave the room, casting one more vitriolic glance in the boy's direction before exiting.

Azula sat down on the ground, "I apologize for him," she said. "He's not too fond of the fact that our leader is fraternizing with members of the other nations, whom we had come so close to conquering. Please, sit."

He did so, and took his place a six feet distance from her. "What have you called me to talk about?"

"I had a feeling you could enlighten me on something that's been confusing me. I don't know why I've just realized this recently, but a few days ago, a realization struck me. I do not know why, but some sort of feeling just came and had me wondering. It was as if...there was a problem with the universe."

Numbuh Four was trying not to break face, as he knew exactly what she meant. But how did she notice?

"I've realized that you, and you alone, are the only person I've ever encountered with such light hair," she said. "I know it may seem irrelevant, but there's just something off about you. You have green eyes, such as that of an Earth Kingdom native, and that scar only serves to make it ever more blatant. What makes it even more odd, is how there is no place from where you could have become like this. Not from Mother, not from Father. Both of them have the same looks as I, with dark hair and golden eyes, as does most everyone in our Nation. Have you never thought that it might mean something?"

_What it means is that I'm Australian and don't belong here,_ thought he. "Well, what do you think it means?" he asked her.

"I think it means that you are most definitely _not_ Fire Nation, much less my brother." She could see the new look of worry spring across his face. "You're not my brother at all, are you?"

He sighed. Finally someone had figured out. How this someone who had managed to while locked up with no outside contact was confusing, but he needed answers, and he'd prefer them now. "No, I'm really not. I mean, I am, but I'm not. I'm not but something happened that made it so that I am."

"And what happened?"

"I don't know!" he raised his voice. "I have absolutely no idea what happened, and I just want to go home!"

"You want to go home?" she asked. "Home where?"

"Home...home! I'm not a king, I'm a secret agent, I'm ten years old, I don't have magical fire powers, no one does! No normal people have powers at all!"

Azula's eyes grew wider than they ever had been before. She thought perhaps he needed a place in the crazy house. Her theory had only been a wild guess, but who knew it could be true? All she wanted to do was strike some paranoia of mistaken identity into his heart and mind, but this...she wasn't expecting this at all. Could he be telling the truth? Surely he couldn't, but, Azula knew a lie when she heard one, and this statement oozed of truth. And pain, and worry, and so much confusion. "So you're saying that you're not from here? Not just the Fire Nation, but this world at all?"

"Yes," he could barely hold back a sniffle. "I just woke up here a few days ago, and all of a sudden everyone's catering to my every whim and I can shoot flames from my hands and I'm taller and have a scar. It makes no sense."

"And you're telling me this? Why?"

"Because you're the only person so far who's noticed."

"An alternate universe...hm..." she pondered for a moment, and all the possibilities unfolded before her mind. "I will help you find a way back."

"You will? But I thought you hated me!"

"According to what you've just told me, I don't."

"True...okay, I'll let you help me."

"But first you need to issue a royal pardon to let me out of prison."

"I will."

"Excellent."

Numbuh Four stood up and went to the door. "Fa Peng, we are done!" he yelled. The door swung open, and there stood the man in front of him. "I want to 'issue a royal pardon' for my sister. Do you know how I can do that?"

Fa Peng looked at the boy as if he was a general of a ship who had just instructed his entire platoon to jump off board because he saw a fish. "You- you want to _let her out?_"

"You heard me," replied the boy.

"Well, of course, being the most supreme power in all the land, of course you can do that, but she-"

"Well if I can do it then I will," he stood firm and crossed his arms, much less like a king but more like a bratty teenager who's arguing with their parents about going to a party after curfew.

Fa Peng sighed. "All right, then, I suppose your word is law." He grumbled, "I will talk to the higher-ups about getting her free, but it might take a day or two."

"I want her out as soon as humanly possible."

The warden summoned some more guards to lead the Fire Lord back to his carriage. After he had left, he turned to Azula.

"Perfect, perfect, I wasn't expecting this but it still went better than planned. And I have acquired some new information that will be even more helpful to us," said the girl smugly.

"I'll admit it, Princess," replied Fa Peng, "I didn't think you would be able to persuade him so easily."

"I've had years of practice," she said, waving her hand as if she'd been flattered. "And what did I tell you? This way is much cleaner cut than a full blown escape attempt would have been. Now wanted posters with my face won't be everywhere. Now I just need to see who will be on my side, who remains loyal to the cause my great-grandfather Sozin had planned out for us..."

"I am on your side, Princess," he bowed to her.

"And that is why you will succeed."

* * *

"WwAaOoUuHaHwUaoEhaOUaUAHEouhheahauoaueaAAAAAA!" Surely, starting a homemade rocket from Earth is one thing, but landing it on the Moon is a horse of a different color. They yanked, they janked, they bumped all around, but finally they were able to keep steady in the low-gravity atmosphere. Sokka caught sight of the Moonbase. A large, spectral bubble enclosing an extra-terrestrial treehouse that was about 50 times the size of their own stood before them. They could see other ships like theirs coming in to dock, in through airlock holes in the bubble being guided by other KND operatives in space suits and holding glowing sticks with which to guide direction. Sokka piloted the rocket over to one of these airlocks, and as they passed one of the directors he saluted them. They came into a form of parking garage and settled down quite inelegantly into a space with a loud THUNK! The door from which they would walk out dropped down with an equally graceless CLANK! The five waltzed out, taking in even more new surroundings of this world that never ceased to amaze them. They proceeded down the metal hallways, as another operative had told them to go, looking about at just how _big_ everything was.

"So much metal..." breathed Toph. "So beautiful. If only I had my bending right about now, I'd be having more fun than a hogmonkey on a playground."

They continued down, and eventually came into the central hub of Moonbase. There were hallways and doors leading everywhere, labeled with terms ranging from "SPAGHETTI RESEARCH" to "CONDIMENT CORE." Out of the hall labeled "DECOMMISSIONING" stormed out a familiar face that all were less than pleased to see. Screaming one thing or another at the boy beside her, Numbuh Eighty-Six came into light.

"AND DON'T FORGET IT AGAIN!" the redhead boomed.

"Y-y-yyes, ma'am!" stuttered the operative, who then scurried off, leaving a trail of papers flying behind him.

Team Avatar became fearful themselves when the girl's glance turned to them. "**You!**" She marched up to them. "You all need to be up in Numbuh Three-Sixty-Two's office **now!**" She jerked her hand in a motion as to say, "Come on!" and started angrily across the busy room and up a case of winding steps. They all followed, and after walking through a hall full of various offices, came up to a door with the words "SOOPREME LEADER" painted on in red. Their surly escort smiled in a sort of "They are in so much trouble" kind of way. She knocked on the door. "Numbuh Three-Sixty-Two, Sector V is here."

"Bring them in," came the girl's voice from inside.

Numbuh Eighty-Six opened up the door and walked in with the team.

"Thank you, Numbuh Eighty-Six. You may be excused," said Numbuh Three-Sixty-Two.

Numbuh Eighty-Six grumbled at not getting to see their apparent punishment, but did what she was told nonetheless.

After the door closed, Numbuh Three-Sixty-Two looked to her operatives. "Gee, it gets so tiring having to dish out orders so formally all the time." She smiled. "You guys can have a seat."

They were glad to see that not all KNDs were mean. They sat down in the chairs before them. "So, what is it you called us here for?" asked Zuko.

"It's about that rock you found," she said. "Our top scientists have been studying it and its...strange properties. It would appear to be broken: a small part of a bigger whole. It also is giving off an unknown energy type. We think that it can have dangerous effects if it comes into contact with humans." She looked at them questioningly. "...You didn't actually _touch_ it, did you?"

Immediately their faces turned to guilt. Toph was the first one to fess up. "I did," she said.

"So did I," followed Aang.

"Me, too," said Katara.

Sokka and Zuko both said "I did too" at the same time.

The leader sighed and rubbed her chin. "You all did. I was afraid of that, but somehow I knew inside that it was inevitable. Well, I guess now we just need to look at you in Medical." She picked up a walkie-talkie on her desk and held down the button. "We need to take Sector V down to Medical for analyzing."

A voice responded through static on the other end. "Ayup, okay."

Suddenly numerous KND agents burst through the door wearing light teal hazmat suits. They sprayed a sickeningly sweet smelling fume into the air, and gloved hands reaching towards them was the last thing any of them could remember.

* * *

Numbuh Four ignored the wide-eyed glances of disbelief and the jaws that were dropped as he walked. He came up through the back gates of the palace, through the bushes and leaves at the very edge of what would be the garden had he turned any more to the right. It was uncomfortable, all the stares, but he was somewhat at rest now that he felt he had an ally in this fight. In his attempt to remain straight-faced and also take the most roundabout route possible, he suddenly tripped over something on the ground, and fell with an "Oof!"

"Smooth," said Azula sarcastically behind him. She offered him a hand up, and then leaned down to see what had caused the trip. It was a rock. A medium-sized dark rock. With blue, glowing shards of mineral embedded inside. "Pretty," she said. "Looks like space rock."

"_What?_" uttered Numbuh Four flatly. He looked at it, and could tell that it resembled the one that they had found just before the switch. It had never occurred to him that it could be the reason for all of this. It couldn't be just coincidence that this universe had one exactly like it.

"I said, 'looks like space rock,' as in, it appears to be a rock that came from outer space. Could have been part of an asteroid," she repeated as if he should already know this but she wanted to say it anyway.

"It's broken," he said, as more realization set in. "We- me and my friends found one exactly like this back in our world. The day right before it happened."

"Interesting," she said. "We'll definitely need to come back to this. Right now, we need to go inside."

And so inside they went. The rest of Sector V, along with Mai, Ty Lee, and Suki were all together in one room. The room instantaneously became quiet when the two entered. The silence lasted a while, until Ty Lee broke it with a peppy tone of voice, "Azula turned good again?"

Following this, the other two in the room along with her burst with talk.

"What's she doing here?" asked Mai.

"Did she hypnotize you, Wally?" questioned Suki.

The voices rose and rose from a hum to chaos. "ENOUGH!" Numbuh Four finally shouted. "This is my sister, Princess Azula," he said. "In light of recent, _confidential_ events, she has been allowed freedom so long as she sticks to her task and does no wrong."

"Maybe you're forgetting that giant black scar she left on your chest with lightningbending?" said Mai.

A giant black scar? On his chest? Hm, must've missed it. Too occupied with his face, I guess.

"Hey, weren't you the one she zapped with lightning?" whispered Numbuh Two to Numbuh One.

"I wouldn't say it's that much of a stretch that she hit us both," replied Numbuh One in an equally hushed tone.

"What happened in the past doesn't matter, what does matter is what needs to happen _now,"_ Numbuh Four stated.

"I apologize for my unethical actions that occurred during the unfortunate event of my mental breakdown," said Azula. "I am so, so sorry. Father was having...a very large influence on me." She turned her face down as if to shed a tear.

"Maybe she really _is_ better now," said Ty Lee.

"That's one of your problems, Ty Lee. You're far too trusting," said Mai, throwing a slight scowl in the princess's direction.

Numbuh Four looked to each of his friends faces individually upon his words as he said, "She. Can. Help. Us."

The other four realized what this meant, and their eyes became happy.

"I think," said Numbuh One, standing up, "that what Wally thinks is good for our, erm, classified situation, should be followed, as we have no other solutions so far."

"And what just is this 'classified situation?'" asked Suki. "In case you guys don't remember, I'm a part of the team, too."

Numbuh One looked at her with an annoyed face. "It's classified for a reason," he said.

Numbuh Two was quick to come to Suki's side. He placed his hands on her shoulders, and said solemnly, "We can't risk anyone getting hurt."

"And since when do you think **I** can't handle getting hurt? You've seen me! I've fought by your side tons of times! I'm not as delicate as you might think," retorted the girl, stepping away from him.

"Look, this, this is just bigger than all of you. Than any of us, really," said Numbuh Five.

"Please, Hoagie," said Suki, looking to Numbuh Two again. "Don't leave me out on this."

"I'm sorry," he said, "But I just can't tell you. You'll have to trust me that it's for the better. You trust me, don't you?"

She looked away for a moment. "Of course I trust you," she sighed. She sat back down in her seat. "I agree with them, then." She stood up again suddenly, and took a threatening approach to Azula. "But you listen up, if you do anything- _**anything**_ to hurt him, I will personally see to it that my fan has a meeting with your throat."

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Azula.

Mai grumbled. "You keep an eye on her, Wally," she said. "And make it the one that's not attracted to evil familial attacks." She left the room.

"So then, we all forgive Azula?" asked Ty Lee.

"No way," said Suki. "I'll never forgive her. Those days at the Boiling Rock are going to haunt me forever. But I'll let her work for us under our supervision. Even if 'us' doesn't necessarily include me this time."

"So, do you know anything yet?" asked Numbuh One to Azula.

"Oh, yes," she said. "Perhaps even more than you yourselves do."

* * *

Aang slowly opened his eyes. He was in a strange-looking bed, wearing a thin paperish gown of the light teal color he had been surrounded by before. Different tubes were coming out of his body, and if he could turn his head at all to the right, he would be able to see the machinery and fluids they were hooked up to. He struggled to take a deep breath through his nose. His eyes drifted across the room, it was almost completely white. He heard a door open, and a child in a lab coat and glasses walked into his view. "Oh, good, you're awake," said the boy. No doubt he was a Kids Next Door doctor. "I guess now would be a good time to give you the report."

Aang found that it was immensely hard to speak. His voice came out in barely a whisper, "Report?"

"Yes," the boy replied. "It's pretty much the same for you and the rest of your team."

Again, Aang tried to speak. "What...where..."

"Oh, don't worry," said the doctor. "You're just waking up from some sleeping medicine. Nothing extreme. We didn't have to do much, a few pricks here and there. You're in Recovery now. The rest of your team is in rooms beside yours. We found traces of a new chemical we've named 'Transfarium' in your system. See, the rock you found was made of almost pure Transfarium, and by coming in contact with it the chemicals seeped into your skin and traveled up to the important pressure point on you located at the top of the nucha, or nape, as it's more commonly known. It's at the top of the back of your neck, almost right where the skull starts. See, when it reached that spot on you, a chemical reaction took place. Problem is; we have absolutely no idea what happened with that. We've also found out that the rock originated from some stellar plane, and that it has powerful properties. Now, see, the place that the Transfarium reached is most always associated with the soul, and we believe it may have had an effect on yours."

Aang was now feeling better as the medicine had begun to wear off. "An effect...on my soul?"

"As crazy as it seems, yes, that is what we are suggesting." He looked to the machines beside his patient. "You'll be fine to get out in about an hour or so. You should see Rachel before you leave, though." He left the room to go talk to the rest of the kids.

"Who's Rachel?" Aang asked aloud, although there was no one to hear him.


	6. Portal To Combat

The two teens sat together in the king's royal bedroom. Azula knew that if her plan was going to work, she needed more to work with. And Wally seemed in the perfect vulnerable position to get information out of. She put on her most sympathetic face, (one she had not used in a very, very long time) and began the first step of every natural-born conqueror's ambition. "So," she said, sitting down in a chair," if I'm going to help you get back to your world, I think I at least deserve to know a little more about it."

Numbuh Four looked up from the fascinating table he was studying immensely. "Oh, yeah. Well, hm," he stopped short at realizing just how difficult explaining his modern life to an ancient Chinese warrior chick would be. "I could never," he paused again, "I could never tell you everything about my world."

For a fraction of a second, the girl's mask turned to annoyance, but then bounced back to fake empathy. "Then tell me what you can, without rupturing my mind or anything."

He sighed, then looked up and thought for a second. "Well, I guess I'll start with the most important part of my life. With an organization," he paused once more, for dramatic effect, of course, "...called the Kids Next Door."

* * *

Up studying late,

Slaving away through the night,

The dark princess works.

With her plan in mind,

Experimenting on it.

Mysterious thing.

_How can I get there?_

_I must find a way to go._

_To conquer, to prove._

_Father will be proud._

_I will save Fire Lord Ozai._

_I will set him free._

_Then he will see me_

_For who I am, his daughter._

_He raised me to win._

_I will, I'll succeed._

_I'll have all that I desire._

_Or else they will pay._

A burst of bright blue,

A vortex opens to her.

Mission accomplished.

Now on to the light.

Now go on to the future,

Where doom awaits them.

* * *

Now she opened her eyes. For a moment, what had happened was a blur, but now it was all clear. The princess sat up and realized she was lying in a large field of green grass. She hadn't seen green grass in a long time, not since her last excursion to the Earth Kingdom. Well, there was grass in her garden, but not real grass. This grass reminded her of trips taken when she was a child, when she once fell asleep in it when she was young. How scratchy it was, how it made her itch...

She always hated the feeling.

She stood up and brushed the offending greenery off of her red and brown dress. She started off in no particular direction, but she was going towards the Sun so she figured she was most likely going west, as it appeared to be early evening. She did not stop to spare an unfortunate dandelion crushed beneath her feet as she walked. What had Wally told her? The name of that man for whom she was looking...Father. What kind of a name is Father? Obviously, a name for someone who was too ashamed of their real one to create such an alias. Someone who had failed in their previous name. She knew he was to be found in an elaborate mansion: not a villain of modesty, did it seem. She searched all about, this new place seeming to be one that only wanted to help you get to what you needed to get done, because she found her way there in little less than an hour. Every person she encountered was uninterested in her endeavors and told her where to go with no questions even towards her strange mode of dress; they only wished for her to be out of their way.

When she reached her destination, she murmured to herself, "Hm, that went faster than I thought," and made her way up the steps to the towering front doors of the mansion. It could be grander, she thought, at least in her taste. Not knowing what a doorbell was, Azula knocked on the door with a firm fist. She waited for a few minutes, then she was greeted by a group of unpleasant- and yet somehow at the same time, _scarily_ pleasant- children who opened the door. The five of them stood together, all dressed somewhat alike, their eyes alight with an unnatural dull blue gleam: they all asked in monotonous unison, "Yes..?"

"I'm looking for Father," said Azula. "I've been told that this is his place of residence."

"Hm," the children all thought for a moment, putting their hands to their chins in exactly the same fashion at exactly the same moment. "How old are you?" they asked.

"Fourteen," she replied.

"Wait just one moment, please," they said, and turned around, then walked down a hall.

There was something more than strange about these kids. Something far more than strange, something was definitely wrong. They weren't normal in any aspect, and somehow they seemed both rude and rash as well as perfectly polite and rational at the exact same time. Obviously Father had done something to them, something to make them this way, to shape their minds to his own twisted will...

How deliciously diabolical. A wonderful method of control. Azula had a feeling she was going to enjoy the company of this man, until she took everything for herself and disposed of him, of course. Maybe she wouldn't need to get rid of him, but just subtly keep control of him while casting the illusion of power upon himself. That's definitely a possibility.

The children came back and told her, "He wants to speak to you in his foyer, but he said make it quick because he hasn't got a lot of patience."

They led her through halls and into a comfortable looking room with a few chairs and a fireplace. She could see the shadow of a man, steady and stiff with a pipe in his mouth. It wasn't until he turned around in the chair that she could see that he himself looked no different from his shadow. His whole self- skin, hair, clothes and all- were completely shrouded in a tar-like black. Only his eyes remained visible, sharp and glowing with yellow fire. "What do you want?" he asked in a way that reflected that of his children-gruff words spoken with a well-mannered voice.

"I could beat around the bush and try to ease my way into it, but I'd much rather get to the point," said Azula.

"Good, I've got a splitting headache and my Delightful Children haven't brought me my coffee yet," he grumbled.

"I want to make a deal," she said.

"What kind of a deal? I'm already in league with you teens, what more could you want?"

"Oh, no, I see you've mistaken my position. I'm not a part of any organizations, Mr. Father."

"What? You mean you're not a Teen Ninja?"

"Well, I **am **a teenager and I **am** quite capable of ninja-like feats, but no."

"Then why have you come? You have ten seconds to explain yourself or else I'll burn your hair off!" He was getting angry now, standing up and creating a massive ball of fire in his hand.

"No need to get aggravated, I just want to take over the Kids Next Door as much as you do. I was thinking, that with our combined efforts, we stand a great chance of defeating them."

He thought about this for a second, and then went on to question, "And what can you do that makes you of more use to me than any of my professionally trained KND-hating ninja machines?"

"Oh, you'll find out," she said, making a face practically inviting him to launch the flames.

"You're just a waste of my time," he said, letting the fire fly towards her.

Yes, just what she wanted. She nonchalantly caught the fireball in her hand and tossed it back to him as an uninterested teenaged sibling would a stray ball from their little sibling's game of catch.

Those bright triangle eyes of his widened into circles as he realized just what this girl had done.

"Do we have a deal?"

"I still don't even know your name, girl."

"It's Azula. Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. I think you'd like where I come from, you'd fit in quite nicely."

And before they knew it a term was struck that would enable them, two fire-flinging fiends, to wreak havoc upon their enemies together. Just after the official handshake, the Delightful Children entered the room, the short blonde boy in the front holding a beverage tray.

"**What took you so long?!**"

* * *

Trudging through the unfamiliar corridors and dragging his feet along with him, Aang slowly moved into some form of lounging room with two brown leather chairs and a couch. It's a good thing he didn't know what leather was, because the strict vegetarian might not have sit on them if he did. But he didn't, so he did sit on one of the chairs to give his achy legs a rest. He had wandered away from his room in search of his friends, alas, to no avail thus far. He closed his eyes for a moment, and in that seemingly short moment a girl had moved into the chair across from him. He saw her when he opened his eyes, quite surprising him how she was able to move so quickly.

"Hey," Numbuh Three-Sixty-Two said.

"Hey," he said back.

"You were asleep for an hour."

"In this chair?"

"In that chair."

"Where-"

"I told you we would send you to Medical."

"No, you told some guy into a weird machine that you were taking us to Medical. And that's not what I was going to ask anyway. Where are my friends?" He stood up out of his chair and looked at her in an intimidating way. Even without his bending, he was sure his martial arts could beat hers. He was not one to get angry often, but this was almost kidnapping, and he needed an explanation.

"Your friends are all in rooms just like the one you were taken to, I can have it arranged for them to be brought here once they've woken, if you like. They're probably already awake."

"Yeah," answered Aang. "I'd like to see them."

About ten minutes later, the rest of the crew- Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Zuko- all made their way into the room, their demeanors ranging from confused to tired to uncomfortable. The four sat down in the order they came in all on the couch. They were a bit squished, but there was no where else to sit, so it made do.

"Guys!" exclaimed Aang. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," was Sokka's response.

"A man-er, boy, came in and spoke to me and explained everything," said Katara.

"Me too," chimed Toph and Zuko in unison.

"So, what do you think happened?" asked Toph.

But before an answer could be revealed, a blaring alarm along with blazing flashing red lights sounded. Meaningless to Team Avatar, Numbuh Three-Sixty-Two knew immediately what this alarm meant. She jumped up, and her face turned to worry.

"Kids Next Door, battle stations!"

A frenzy was made of all the agents, and the group of foreigners did not know what to do. The Soopreme Leader began to run off, but turned around to see who she thought were her best operatives sitting doing nothing. "Did you hear me? I said, battle stations!" She made a motion with her hand for them to follow her, and one machine that quickly puts you into armor later, they were on yet another space shuttle.

* * *

A short, blonde-haired boy stumbled tiredly into the kitchen. Numbuh Four yawned loudly. "Hey, have any of you guys seen Azula?" he asked the four already awake children in the room.

"No, haven't seen her around," said Numbuh Two.

"Maybe she got an early start this morning," Numbuh Four suggested, leaving the room. He then walked back in, took a pastry, and walked back out.

He wandered into his and her workroom, but she was nowhere to be found. Surprisingly, the all-too-important rock was nowhere to be found as well. Even more surprisingly than that, there was a giant, swirling white-blue vortex just floating there in the air.

Just as he was about to take a bite of his breakfast, he caught sight of it. "Hm. Well. Now that's something you don't see every day."

Just then the door opened behind him. The bouncy, green-clad girl of the crew emerged. "Numbuh Four? Hey, they rest of us were wondering-WOW!" Whatever Numbuh Three was going to tell him is now lost to history forever, she forgot it quickly at the sight of the portal and looked in amazement. "Ooh! Ooh! What is it, Numbuh Four? Tellmetellmetellmetellme-oof!" He put his hand that wasn't holding a pastry over her mouth.

"I have no idea what it is, Numbuh Three. I just came in and here it was."

"Ooooh..." She removed his hand, and realizing she was holding it in hers; he blushed and jerked it away quickly. "What do you think it is?"

"Hm, I don't know, maybe a portal to Rainbow Monkey Land?" he commented dryly.

"EEEEEEEEEE-" He shut her off again in the same way as before, this time dropping his breakfast on the ground and using the other hand to cover his ear as well while she continued squealing on underneath.

"No, Numbuh Three. I was just being sarcastic. Well, we were searching for a way to get back home, so I'm assuming she found one. But why wouldn't she tell me...?"

She moved his hand again, and this time clutched the other one as well, gripping them so tightly as to squeeze the life out of a metal bar without realizing that a metal bar isn't alive in the first place. "Do you really think we can go back home?" She was looking straight into his eyes, small tears beginning to form in her large brown ones. A face he, or anyone else, couldn't say no to.

"Yeah, I think that. At least."

She looked as if she was about to burst out in another piercing shriek when she let go of him and bolted out the door. She returned in less than a minute, the rest of the team behind her. At first, the others did not believe it was possible, but now they gazed with wonder at the spectacle. They quickly voiced their excitement, and soon resolved to hop right in. They were going home. Good old, normal home.

Or so they thought.


	7. The Big Finale

Author's Note: No excuse for the late update this time except for that I forgot. Sorry! Enjoy the seventh- and final- chapter of Operation: A.V.A.T.A.R.!

* * *

"What's going on?" The question had been on their minds since the alarm went off, but no one had asked because they felt they were supposed to know, and would get in trouble if they didn't. Until now, when Sokka finally gathered up the courage (gathered up the courage...forced into it by four people he knew could kick his butt...there's not really much of a difference.)

"Our sensors have detected a large amount of power coming from Father's house. Normally, we'd send in an elite team of spies to check it out; but that specific alarm signaled something worse, that's why I was so worried. Now I've been told that that's due to two factors: he has kids in there, most likely kidnappees who've almost got Delightfulization in their future; and Transfarium."

"Transfarium?" the five kids all asked at once.

"Yeah, that stuff we found in you, and in that stone. There's a rather strong signal of it coming from there, and we're gonna get to the bottom of it."

Apparently in the entire time that it took to have that conversation, they had reached their destination. The ship crashed straight through the roof, but they were too late. They beheld the sight of Father standing, in all his evil glory, smiling at the five children trapped in large, floating, blobulous globs of yellow goo, unable to escape. Next to him stood a face all-too-familiar to our heroes.

"_Azula?_" asked Zuko in malevolence and bewilderment. "What is **she** doing here?"

"Hurting innocent people, and we need to stop her," said Aang.

Soon a flood of KND came upon the mansion. Father looked up and smiled (or, at least, it looked like he smiled, as you couldn't actually see his mouth,) and laughed. "Oh, hello, Kids Next Door!"

A grand battle unleashed, bubbleguns and other homemade weapons against all-natural flames. Aang led his crew to amidst the warzone, leading them to free the trapped children. It was then that Katara stopped short. "Guys...guys!"

"What?" asked Sokka, "Katara, we're kind of in the middle of SAVING LIVES right now!"

"Look at them!"

They all (except Toph, who just listened to the other's reactions and could piece out what was happening) looked up at the figures inside the goop. They realized the bald one had a blue arrow tattoo, that the blonde one had a large red scar across his eye, that they were wearing clothing of the Southern Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads...

They had found themselves.

* * *

They plopped to the ground, gasping and wet.

"Where is she?!" called out Numbuh Four with a raspy yell. "Where is that little traitor?! As soon as I get my hands on that Azula, I'll...why I'll-"

"Azula?" asked Zuko to his apparent doppelganger.

"Yeah, you know, black hair, red lipstick, hm, what else? Oh, yeah, _**currently trying to KILL everybody with blue fire?!**_"

"Yeah, I know who you're talking about. That's my sister."

"What do you-hey! You're wearing my hoodie!"

Before anything else could be said, Toph yelled "Duck!" and they were all just a dodge away from being singed by a wave of fire. "Can you guys not feel the air get a bajillion degrees hotter right before a fireball comes your way?"

"...No," was everyone else's response.

"I'd hate to break up your little reunion," came the voice of Father from about 20 feet away. "But I do believe we have some business to take care of." He launched two more at them, and Numbuh One and Numbuh Four were quick to jump in the way and dissolve them before they could do any real harm.

At this obvious show of firebending, Aang looked right at Numbuh One in stunned silence, realizing what all this meant. Of course, looking at him in stunned silence completely took his attention away from the fact that he was Father's next target. He could see the boy's face turn towards his own in alarm and heard the British accent yell out, "Look out!" Aang quickly jumped up, just barely avoiding losing his legs. "Keep an eye on the fight, will you?!" the Brit yelled back before returning to his flinging of the elements. "And to think, you're supposed to be me..." he murmured to himself.

At this point, the Delightful Children had come out with their own fancy killing machines and random little robot mooks as well. Without a second thought, all ten children were fighting alongside the KND- whether it be with supernatural powers or ragtag machinery. Somehow, without even knowing each other, they formed the perfect team. They were able to work together, Numbuh Two taking a moment to show Sokka how to work a gun while the other demonstrated proper boomerang throwing technique, all while happily wearing down the evil forces. Numbuh Three lifted a rock from the ground which Toph was standing on, and launched it toward an enemy. The blind girl would jump off and kick them in the jaw with massive force, stunning them right before they took a boulder to the neck. All around the fighting went, the Delightfuls eventually fell, the rest of the KND forces were rendered inadequate, and then there were only twelve people on the battlefield left.

"Give it up, Father!" yelled Numbuh One. "You're outnumbered ten-to-two!"

"Yeah! And we have more assets!" added Sokka, quite enjoying the way this battle was going (he was also quite happy to be reunited with his boomerang, which he had traded Numbuh Two some complicated rifle for.)

"But you don't have the skill," retorted the menace. "Disgusting little kids. You may have the power, but you don't know how to use it. Whereas I- and my accomplice-"

"I thought YOU were the accomplice..." muttered the girl.

"have more experience than you could ever dream of gaining. Especially since you only have about, oh, I'd say...ten minutes left to learn anything. So watch closely," he finished.

However, he had just made a vital mistake that villains often make. Taking time away from the fight to blabber on about how you're superior to the hero instead of just killing them right then and there. And so, in the time taken to make that short monologue, the children had gotten him and Azula surrounded in a tight circle. The teenage girl had begun fighting them off as soon as they approached, but he was caught off-guard. He took a dozen eggs, a sharp and tightly-packed bundle of garbage, and a blast of deathly frozen water to his abdomen, right leg, and neck respectively.

The impact had made him actually swallow his pipe, and he fell to his knees as he choked. A normal person would have most likely died from this, but as he was no normal person, Benedict lived on through burning it while in his throat. He looked up, and the next thing he knew he was being helplessly pummeled by a bunch of kids who could dodge his clumsy and misguided attacks easier than a fly dodges a frog's tongue (especially since flies are often terrible at dodging frog's tongues, and they were far from terrible.) "A-Azula!" he choked. "HELP ME!"

The girl was now battling Zuko one-on-one. She used her hands as jets of blue flame and propelled herself up into the air, and clung onto a broken piece of pipe in what used to be a mansion wall. "Sorry, but I think you don't really have enough _experience_ to know how to use your power and beat a bunch of ten-year-olds."

"But, but we had an agreement!"

"Consider that agreement over as of right now. Nice doing business with you." Right after saying this she was pushed by the orange-wearing boy behind her. She fell down, but landed gracefully on her feet. She prepared to begin fighting again, but was interrupted by the attention of her opponent being suddenly guided elsewhere. Zuko, along with all the other children who were not currently pummeling Father, (that is to say, Numbuh Three, Numbuh Two, Numbuh Five, and Sokka,) were all together in a group huddle. Numbuh Two, upon being temporarily blasted away earlier in the fight, had caught sight of a certain someone scurry past the commotion holding the rock that Sector V had found. His initial impulse was to follow her, but he knew he would need backup.

"_Cree?_" asked Sokka.

"Yeah, she's one of the-" began Numbuh Two before Sokka cut him off.

"No, no, I know who she is. She has the rock?!" the boy asked in shock.

"Oh, I see you've had an encounter with her in your time here..." said the younger boy.

"Yeah, we have," said Zuko. "Do you know what she intends to do with it?"

"No idea, but we still don't know what it really is and bad things could happen should she mess with it too much. Really bad things," pointed out Numbuh Two.

"Then let's go find her and kick her in the patooshie!" exclaimed Numbuh Three.

Their huddle was cut short by Azula spinning into the middle of the circle and blasting flames from every direction. "Didn't think I was just going to disappear, did you?"

"We don't have time for this!" yelled Numbuh Five, replacing her now-charred hat to her head.

"Look, Azula, as much as I'd love to put you in your place right now, you're just going to have to get over your over-inflated view of yourself and deal with the fact that I need to be dealing with something _more important_ than you right now, okay?" commented Zuko, distracting her for a moment while Numbuh Five doused her thoroughly from behind.

"Quick! She went this way!" yelled Numbuh Two, leaping into one of Father's twisting and winding hallways.

The four children assigned to accompany him in this mission followed, as did Azula. As all but Numbuh Three ran in, the little girl turned around and commanded the very ground itself to rise up out of its place and form a solid wall, blocking the princess' entry. The teenager grumbled, and was about to blast a massive hole in the wall until she was met with the fact that her former employer was by now very unconscious, and five angry kids remained to battle her.

* * *

The walls were on fire. Pictures and paintings fell from their places in crumpling piles of ash as soon as the small band of five ran through, and the ceiling seemed as if it was tired of existing and just wanted to fall down and die. For all they knew, they could have been running into a flaming abyss with a sign reading "_**Abandon all hope**_." It was getting progressively harder to breathe through the thick cloud of dark grey smoke that closed in around them, but they continued on, until finally they reached a room that was unidentifiable in its original nature because of how horribly disfigured it had become in the rampant fires. At the other end of the large area, they saw a girl all dressed in black; or at least they thought they did, as it was hard to see through the air that was beginning to look all squiggly through effect of the intense heat. She turned around, and confirmed the fact that she was indeed Numbuh Five's older sister, and that she was indeed carrying the rock that had started it all.

No words were said, not from children to teen or vice-versa. It seemed a stalemate of angry staring that eventually evolved into vicious glaring while the very structure violently fell to pieces around them. The first move went to Numbuh Three, who stepped forward in a way as if she was about to encase Cree in the rocks that made up what used to be a stone floor, but before she could lift a finger to make even a piece of dust move, she was completely pinned to the wall behind her by a number of shuriken sticking her clothes. Her movement was quicker than lightning. She definitely lived up to her title as a ninja. She was better prepared for a fight than before, and even then it took a lot to wear her down. Sokka launched his trusty boomerang, which did take her by surprise for a moment, but soon she was engaging him in close melee combat, and her reflexes proved superior. Numbuh Five had a plan, which she whispered to Numbuh Three as she freed the latter from the wall. It was the first thing said during the whole fight, and at this point still the only. Numbuh Five and Zuko charged Cree, attacking her with a blast of water from a handy pouch Numbuh Five had learned to carry around since becoming a waterbender on one side, and an expert swipe from a sword that- while not one he was used to, and was far too modified for his taste-Zuko delivered with a credible amount of style for how very effective it was.

"Ach! I'll kill you kids!" was the second thing said on the battlefield, and the first to be heard by everyone. She held her side sliced by Zuko for a moment, but the cut was not deep at all, and so she continued on, not even bothering to check the shoulder damage done by Numbuh Five. She whipped out two throwing knives, and tossed them in the direction of either child.

They both dodged with ease. "Heh, just like when I get in an argument with my girlfriend," chuckled Zuko, coming straight at his attacker with full force.

"Oof-!" Cree dodged the blade, but was still caught by his shoulder in the gut. "Surprised a little twerp like you even has one. She must have really low standards- or else she's even more of a dork than you. Hard to imagine, though..."

"I'm going to choose to not let that get to me," said Zuko, focusing on his fighting rather than banter at the moment.

It was now that Cree realized Numbuh Three was sneaking over to where she had dropped the rock. "Hey! You get back here!" she yelled, tumbling through Numbuh Two and Sokka, the former who had just helped the latter up, knocking them both down effectively. "Give me that," she said, towering over the girl.

Numbuh Three held the rock behind her. "Say, 'please!'" she cooed in a singsong voice.

"Wha-NO! Just give it here!" She lurched to grapple the child and squeeze it out of her.

Three casually slid to the side, and looked up as if contemplating something. "Uhm...no." She threw the rock in the air, and with the help of her earthbending, guided it towards her comrades. "Numbuh Two, catch!"

He did so, thus angering the teen to no end. She let out an exasperated growl between clenched teeth.

"You should have just said, 'please!'" chimed Numbuh Three, tumbling much in the same fashion Cree had before to avoid an angry attack.

"Hot Potato!" joked Numbuh Two, tossing it casually to Sokka, as Cree sprung for him.

"Haha, Hot Potato, Zuko!" joined in Sokka as he ran, slid, and did the same when Cree came for him next.

Zuko caught it easily, and calmly stood there as Cree charged towards him.

"Zuko! Pass it to Numbuh Five!" yelled Numbuh Two, though he did no such thing. "ZUKO!"

Right as the teenage girl was about to be upon him, he lifted the rock above his head, and brought it smashing down upon hers as soon as she was in range. "Hot Potato **Hot!**" he yelled, not being as familiar with the game they were referencing as the rest but still knowing how it was played. The girl fell crumpled at his legs. "You're out," he said, looking down at her.

She seemed defeated, remaining still on the floor. She was not. She suddenly sprung up, seized the rock from the surprised boy's hands, and quickly ran as fast as she could to the opposite end of the room that was now all but a complete inferno. "You guys have fun _**burning alive.**_ Me? I'm getting out of here." She enabled some device on her suit that sprouted two mechanical wings from her back; a new addition, they thought.

Of course, there were still a bunch of burning rocks lying around, and Numbuh Three could still make them do whatever she wanted. She remembered this suddenly, and brought one that was fairly close to Cree up and smacked her in the face with it, earning a painful cry, a rock dropped on the ground, and some curse word that Kuki hadn't learned yet. She ran forward and grabbed it at the same time Cree regained her grip on it. The teen's face was now steaming- literally _and_ metaphorically. It would seem that her face would soon be getting many painful blisters among the first-degree burns, and this angered her more than ever.

"No, no, NO. I'm not letting you little brats get away with this. I don't know what in the world this thing is, but I'm tired of going through so much trouble to get it. I don't care if I get expelled from the Teen Ninjas for this, I'm gonna make sure you little bags of filthy dirt get what you deserve." She pulled out a small device that expanded into a hammer. She pressed a button on it, and a laser came out. She aimed it at the rock, and repeatedly bashed it until it split right in two. She barely had time to hear her own evil laugh before everything in the room began violently shaking. It wasn't just shaking, the world was ending. Imagine the worst earthquake you can, and amplify that times ten. This was that. The celing all but completely caved in on the children, flames and uncontrollable rocks flew everywhere; it was the picture of mass chaos. A piercing noise began sounding, something between a police siren and the wail of a newborn banshee. Everything, the roof, the walls, the floor, even the children themselves, began to glow with a pale and sickly white. The pale and sickly white soon brightened, grew and grew into the more terrible holy light, something worthy of the apocalypse, if that wasn't even what this was. It engulfed everything in sight, and everyone was sure this was the end. This was the end. This was the end...

This was the end.

* * *

After the lights fade and have dissolved,

Everyone is back home again.

One little crunch, and all is resolved.

But no one remembers the time when

They switched worlds, and insanity proceeded.

One little break, a crack in space,

One little bit of advice that was not heeded.

And a mass of confusion filled the place.

But now it's broken.

The spell is disappeared.

The curse awoken,

Now no more is feared.

Go back to bed,

And have sweet dreams.

Rest your head,

'Cause you spent all night reading this, it seems.

* * *

Author Again: Hope you all enjoyed! ;)


End file.
